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Group II Introns and Their Protein Collaborators

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Book cover Non-Protein Coding RNAs

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Biophysics ((BIOPHYSICS,volume 13))

Group II introns are an abundant class of autocatalytic introns that excise themselves from precursor mRNAs. Although group II introns are catalytic RNAs, they require the assistance of proteins for efficient splicing in vivo. Proteins that facilitate splicing of organellar group II introns fall into two main categories: intron-encoded maturases and host-encoded proteins. This chapter will focus on the host proteins that group II introns recruited to ensure their function. It will discuss the great diversity of these proteins, define common features, and describe different strategies employed to achieve specificity. Special emphasis will be placed on DEAD-box ATPases, currently the best studied example of host-encoded proteins with a role in group II intron splicing. Since the exact mechanisms by which splicing is facilitated is not known for any of the host proteins, general mechanistic strategies for protein-mediated RNA folding are described and assessed for their potential role in group II intron splicing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale University, 266 Whitney Avenue, Room 334A Bass Building, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Anna Marie Pyle

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  1. Amanda Solem
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  2. Nora Zingler
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  3. Anna Marie Pyle
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  4. Jennifer Li- Pook-Than
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Correspondence to Anna Marie Pyle .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1055, USA

    Nils G. Walter (Associate Professor of Chemistry) (Associate Professor of Chemistry)

  2. Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Sarah A. Woodson (Professor of Biophysics) (Professor of Biophysics)

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Box 215, Boulder, CO, 80309-0215, USA

    Robert T. Batey (Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry) (Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

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Solem, A., Zingler, N., Pyle, A.M., Li- Pook-Than, J. (2009). Group II Introns and Their Protein Collaborators. In: Walter, N.G., Woodson, S.A., Batey, R.T. (eds) Non-Protein Coding RNAs. Springer Series in Biophysics, vol 13. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70840-7_8

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