Biomaterial Database

Selenoprotein synthesis in archaea: identification of an mRNA element of Methanococcus jannaschii probably directing selenocysteine insertion. 1997

R Wilting, and S Schorling, and B C Persson, and A Böck

Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie der Universität München, Germany.

Selenocysteine is encoded by a UGA codon in all organisms that synthesise selenoproteins. This codon is specified as a selenocysteine codon by an mRNA secondary structure, which is located immediately 3' of the UGA in the reading frame of selenoprotein genes in Gram-negative bacteria, whereas it is located in the 3' untranslated region of eukaryal selenoprotein genes. The location and the structure of a similar mRNA signal in archaea has so far not been determined. Seven selenoproteins were identified for the archaeon Methanococcus jannaschii by labelling with 75Se and by SDS/polyacrylamide electrophoresis. Their size could be correlated with open reading frames possessing internal UGA codons from the total genomic sequence. One of the open reading frames, that of the VhuD subunit of a hydrogenase, possesses two UGA codons and appears to code for a selenoprotein with two selenocysteine residues. A strongly conserved mRNA element was identified that is exclusively linked to selenoprotein genes. It is located in the 3' untranslated region in six of the mRNAs and in the 5' untranslated region of the fdhA mRNA. This element, which is present in the 3' non-translated region of two selenoprotein mRNAs from Methanococcus voltae, is proposed to act in decoding of the UGA with selenocysteine.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D008970	Molecular Weight	The sum of the weight of all the atoms in a molecule.	Molecular Weights,Weight, Molecular,Weights, Molecular
D009690	Nucleic Acid Conformation	The spatial arrangement of the atoms of a nucleic acid or polynucleotide that results in its characteristic 3-dimensional shape.	DNA Conformation,RNA Conformation,Conformation, DNA,Conformation, Nucleic Acid,Conformation, RNA,Conformations, DNA,Conformations, Nucleic Acid,Conformations, RNA,DNA Conformations,Nucleic Acid Conformations,RNA Conformations
D011506	Proteins	Linear POLYPEPTIDES that are synthesized on RIBOSOMES and may be further modified, crosslinked, cleaved, or assembled into complex proteins with several subunits. The specific sequence of AMINO ACIDS determines the shape the polypeptide will take, during PROTEIN FOLDING, and the function of the protein.	Gene Products, Protein,Gene Proteins,Protein,Protein Gene Products,Proteins, Gene
D003062	Codon	A set of three nucleotides in a protein coding sequence that specifies individual amino acids or a termination signal (CODON, TERMINATOR). Most codons are universal, but some organisms do not produce the transfer RNAs (RNA, TRANSFER) complementary to all codons. These codons are referred to as unassigned codons (CODONS, NONSENSE).	Codon, Sense,Sense Codon,Codons,Codons, Sense,Sense Codons
D004591	Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel	Electrophoresis in which a polyacrylamide gel is used as the diffusion medium.	Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis,SDS-PAGE,Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-PAGE,Gel Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide,SDS PAGE,Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate PAGE,Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-PAGEs
D000595	Amino Acid Sequence	The order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.	Protein Structure, Primary,Amino Acid Sequences,Sequence, Amino Acid,Sequences, Amino Acid,Primary Protein Structure,Primary Protein Structures,Protein Structures, Primary,Structure, Primary Protein,Structures, Primary Protein
D001105	Archaea	One of the three domains of life (the others being BACTERIA and Eukarya), formerly called Archaebacteria under the taxon Bacteria, but now considered separate and distinct. They are characterized by: (1) the presence of characteristic tRNAs and ribosomal RNAs; (2) the absence of peptidoglycan cell walls; (3) the presence of ether-linked lipids built from branched-chain subunits; and (4) their occurrence in unusual habitats. While archaea resemble bacteria in morphology and genomic organization, they resemble eukarya in their method of genomic replication. The domain contains at least four kingdoms: CRENARCHAEOTA; EURYARCHAEOTA; NANOARCHAEOTA; and KORARCHAEOTA.	Archaebacteria,Archaeobacteria,Archaeon,Archebacteria
D001426	Bacterial Proteins	Proteins found in any species of bacterium.	Bacterial Gene Products,Bacterial Gene Proteins,Gene Products, Bacterial,Bacterial Gene Product,Bacterial Gene Protein,Bacterial Protein,Gene Product, Bacterial,Gene Protein, Bacterial,Gene Proteins, Bacterial,Protein, Bacterial,Proteins, Bacterial
D001483	Base Sequence	The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.	DNA Sequence,Nucleotide Sequence,RNA Sequence,DNA Sequences,Base Sequences,Nucleotide Sequences,RNA Sequences,Sequence, Base,Sequence, DNA,Sequence, Nucleotide,Sequence, RNA,Sequences, Base,Sequences, DNA,Sequences, Nucleotide,Sequences, RNA