Gilson E, Clément J M, Brutlag D, Hofnung M
EMBO J. 1984 Jun;3(6):1417-21. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb01986.x.
We report the properties of 67 members of a family of dispersed repetitive palindromic extragenic bacterial DNA sequences. These sequences, called palindromic units, appear to be present at least several hundred times outside structural genes on the Escherichia coli chromosome. They are found either in clusters - as in a previously described intercistronic element - or in single occurrences. They are not only found within an operon but also between different operons, including between convergent ones. The palindromic units could yield a stem and loop structure at the level of DNA or RNA. The base of the stem is made of eight remarkably conserved base pairs while the rest varies somewhat in length and sequence. We analyse the data available on the palindromic units and we speculate on their possible roles with emphasis on transcription and mRNA stability or processing, as well as on their possible relation to transposition elements and the modular evolution of the genome.
我们报告了一族分散的重复性回文细菌基因外DNA序列中67个成员的特性。这些序列称为回文单元,似乎在大肠杆菌染色体结构基因之外至少存在数百次。它们要么成簇存在——如先前描述的顺反子间元件——要么单独出现。它们不仅存在于一个操纵子内,也存在于不同操纵子之间,包括反向操纵子之间。回文单元在DNA或RNA水平上可形成茎环结构。茎的底部由八个高度保守的碱基对组成,而其余部分在长度和序列上略有不同。我们分析了关于回文单元的现有数据,并推测了它们可能的作用,重点是转录、mRNA稳定性或加工,以及它们与转座元件的可能关系和基因组的模块化进化。