HgcC family RNA

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HgcC family RNA

Type:	Gene;
2° structure:	Predicted; PFOLD
Seed alignment:	Bateman A
Avg length:	166.7 nucleotides
Avg identity:	60%

HgcC is a small non coding RNA (ncRNA). It is the functional product of a gene which is not translated into protein.

This ncRNA gene was originally identified by computationally searching the genome of the thermophilic bacteria Methanococcus jannaschii for non-coding regions of high guanine-cytosine (GC) content^[1]. The original rational for this search was based on the observation that the genomes of these bacteria are adenosine-thiamine (AT) rich and consequently have a low GC content. However, the GC content of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA) genes in hyperthermophiles shows a strong correlation with optimal growth temperature ^[2]. It was proposed that non coding regions of high GC-content might encode functional RNA products. The computational screen identified 5 novel ncRNA genes in the genome of M.jannaschii. These were named hgcA through hgcG ("high GC"). Two other homologues were detected called HhcA and HhcB after "homologue of hgcC" ^[1].

The HgcC gene product was experimentally validated by Northern blot and RACE-PCR analysis^[1]. The function of this ncRNA is not known.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c Klein RJ, Misulovin Z, Eddy SR (2002). "Noncoding RNA genes identified in AT-rich hyperthermophiles". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (11): 7542–7. doi:10.1073/pnas.112063799. PMID 12032319.
^ Galtier N, Lobry JR (1997). "Relationships between genomic G+C content, RNA secondary structures, and optimal growth temperature in prokaryotes". J. Mol. Evol. 44 (6): 632–6. PMID 9169555.