Diversity of retron elements in a population of rhizobia and other gram-negative bacteria
Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: Genetic elements called retrons reside on the chromosome of Escherichia coli and the myxobacteria and represent the first reverse transcriptase-encoding element to be found in a prokaryotic cell. All known retrons produce a functionally obscure RNA-DNA satellite molecule called multicopy single-stranded DNA (msDNA). We report here the presence of msDNA-producing retron elements in a number of new bacterial groups, including strains of the genera Proteus, Klebsiella, Salmonella, Nannocystis, Rhizobium, and Bradyrhizobium. Among a population of 63 rhizobia strains, only 16% contain a retron element. The rhizobia retrons appear to be heterogeneous in nucleotide sequence and show little similarity to previously studied retrons of E. coli and the myxobacteria.
Source: Journal of Bacteriology
Authors: S A Rice, J Bieber, J Y Chun, G Stacey, B C Lampson
Institution: University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1620596247