title: Mutations in the Lactococcus lactis Ll.LtrB group II intron that retain mobility in vivo.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Group II introns are mobile genetic elements that form conserved secondary and tertiary structures. In order to determine which of the conserved structural elements are required for mobility, a series of domain and sub-domain deletions were made in the Lactococcus lactis group II intron (Ll.LtrB) and tested for mobility in a genetic assay. Point mutations in domains V and VI were also tested.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The largest deletion that could be made without severely compromising mobility was 158 nucleotides in DIVb(1-2). This mutant had a mobility frequency comparable to the wild-type Ll.LtrB intron (DeltaORF construct). Hence, all subsequent mutations were done in this mutant background. Deletion of DIIb reduced mobility to approximately 18% of wild-type, while another deletion in domain II (nts 404-459) was mobile to a minor extent. Only two deletions in DI and none in DIII were tolerated. Some mobility was also observed for a DIVa deletion mutant. Of the three point mutants at position G3 in DV, only G3A retained mobility. In DVI, deletion of the branch-point nucleotide abolished mobility, but the presence of any nucleotide at the branch-point position restored mobility to some extent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The smallest intron capable of efficient retrohoming was 725 nucleotides, comprising the DIVb(1-2) and DII(ii)a,b deletions. The tertiary elements found to be nonessential for mobility were alpha, kappa and eta. In DV, only the G3A mutant was mobile. A branch-point residue is required for intron mobility.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 78712, USA. ldsouza@bcm.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: D'Souza
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong