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Fluorescent End-Labeling and Encapsulation of Long RNAs for Single-Molecule FRET-TIRF Microscopy
Published on: October 18, 2024
Now on display: a gallery of group II intron structures at different stages of catalysis
Marco Marcia1, Srinivas Somarowthu, Anna Marie Pyle
1Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. marco.marcia@yale.edu.
Abstract:
Group II introns are mobile genetic elements that self-splice and retrotranspose into DNA and RNA. They are considered evolutionary ancestors of the spliceosome, the ribonucleoprotein complex essential for pre-mRNA processing in higher eukaryotes. Over a 20-year period, group II introns have been characterized first genetically, then biochemically, and finally by means of X-ray crystallography. To date, 17 crystal structures of a group II intron are available, representing five different stages of the splicing cycle. This review provides a framework for classifying and understanding these new structures in the context of the splicing cycle. Structural and functional implications for the spliceosome are also discussed.
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