A self-splicing group I intron in the DNA polymerase gene of Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPO1

Cell. 1990 Oct 19;63(2):417-24. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90174-d.

Abstract

We report a self-splicing intron in bacteriophage SPO1, whose host is the gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. The intron contains all the conserved features of primary sequence and secondary structure previously described for the group IA introns of eukaryotic organelles and the gram-negative bacteriophage T4. The SPO1 intron contains an open reading frame of 522 nucleotides. As in the T4 introns, this open reading frame begins in a region that is looped out of the secondary structure, but ends in a highly conserved region of the intron core. The exons encode SPO1 DNA polymerase, which is highly similar to E. coli DNA polymerase I. The demonstration of self-splicing introns in viruses of both gram-positive and gram-negative eubacteria lends further evidence for their early origin in evolution.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacillus subtilis / enzymology
  • Bacillus subtilis / genetics*
  • Bacteriophages / enzymology
  • Bacteriophages / genetics*
  • Base Sequence
  • DNA Polymerase I / genetics
  • DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / genetics*
  • Escherichia coli / enzymology
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Exons
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Genes, Viral*
  • Introns*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • RNA Splicing*
  • Restriction Mapping
  • Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
  • Viral Structural Proteins / genetics*

Substances

  • Viral Structural Proteins
  • DNA Polymerase I
  • DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase

Associated data

  • GENBANK/M37686