RNA and protein catalysis in group II intron splicing and mobility reactions using purified components

R Saldanha, B Chen, H Wank, M Matsuura… - Biochemistry, 1999 - ACS Publications
R Saldanha, B Chen, H Wank, M Matsuura, J Edwards, AM Lambowitz
Biochemistry, 1999ACS Publications
Group II introns encode proteins with reverse transcriptase activity. These proteins also
promote RNA splicing (maturase activity) and then, with the excised intron, form a site-
specific DNA endonuclease that promotes intron mobility by reverse splicing into DNA
followed by target DNA-primed reverse transcription. Here, we used an Escherichia coli
expression system for the Lactococcus lactis group II intron Ll. LtrB to show that the intron-
encoded protein (LtrA) alone is sufficient for maturase activity, and that RNP particles …
Group II introns encode proteins with reverse transcriptase activity. These proteins also promote RNA splicing (maturase activity) and then, with the excised intron, form a site-specific DNA endonuclease that promotes intron mobility by reverse splicing into DNA followed by target DNA-primed reverse transcription. Here, we used an Escherichia coli expression system for the Lactococcus lactis group II intron Ll.LtrB to show that the intron-encoded protein (LtrA) alone is sufficient for maturase activity, and that RNP particles containing only the LtrA protein and excised intron RNA have site-specific DNA endonuclease and target DNA-primed reverse transcriptase activity. Detailed analysis of the splicing reaction indicates that LtrA is an intron-specific splicing factor that binds to unspliced precursor RNA with a Kd of ≤0.12 pM at 30 °C. This binding occurs in a rapid bimolecular reaction, which is followed by a slower step, presumably an RNA conformational change, required for splicing to occur. Our results constitute the first biochemical analysis of protein-dependent splicing of a group II intron and demonstrate that a single intron-encoded protein can interact with the intron RNA to carry out a coordinated series of reactions leading to splicing and mobility.
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