Bacterial group II introns generate genetic diversity by circularization and trans-splicing from a population of intron-invaded mRNAs.

ABSTRACT: Group II introns are ancient retroelements that significantly shaped the origin and evolution of contemporary eukaryotic genomes. These self-splicing ribozymes share a common ancestor with the telomerase enzyme, the spliceosome machinery as well as the highly abundant spliceosomal introns and non-LTR retroelements. More than half of the human genome thus consists of various elements that evolved from ancient group II introns, which altogether significantly contribute to key functions and genetic diversity in eukaryotes. Similarly, group II intron-related elements in bacteria such as abortive phage infection (Abi) retroelements, diversity generating retroelements (DGRs) and some CRISPR-Cas systems have evolved to confer important functions to their hosts. In sharp contrast, since bacterial

SUBMITTER: LaRoche-Johnston F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6248898 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature