Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Identification of Host Pathways Targeted by Bacterial Effector Proteins using Yeast Toxicity and Suppressor Screens
Published on: October 25, 2019
An unspliced group I intron in 23S rRNA links Chlamydiales, chloroplasts, and mitochondria
K D Everett1, S Kahane, R M Bush
1Avian and Swine Respiratory Diseases Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Ames, Iowa 50010, USA. keverett@calc.vet.uga.edu
Abstract:
Chlamydia was the only genus in the order Chlamydiales until the recent characterization of Simkania negevensis Z(T) and Parachlamydia acanthamoebae strains. The present study of Chlamydiales 23S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) focuses on a naturally occurring group I intron in the I-CpaI target site of 23S rDNA from S. negevensis. The intron, SnLSU. 1, belonged to the IB4 structural subgroup and was most closely related to large ribosomal subunit introns that express single-motif, LAGLIDADG endonucleases in chloroplasts of algae and in mitochondria of amoebae. RT-PCR and electrophoresis of in vivo rRNA indicated that the intron was not spliced out of the 23S rRNA. The unspliced 658-nt intron is the first group I intron to be found in bacterial rDNA or rRNA, and it may delay the S. negevensis developmental replication cycle by affecting ribosomal function.
Related Concept Videos
RNA Splicing
Comparing Mitochondrial, Chloroplast, and Prokaryotic Genomes
Export of Mitochondrial and Chloroplast Genes
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Bacterial Phylum Chlamydiae
Diversity of Protists I

