The tmRNA Website: invasion by an intron

tmRNA (also known as 10Sa RNA or SsrA) plays a central role in an unusual mode of translation, whereby a stalled ribosome switches from a problematic mRNA to a short reading frame within tmRNA during translation of a single polypeptide chain. Research on the mechanism, structure and biology of tmRNA is served by the tmRNA Website, a collection of sequences for tmRNA and the encoded proteolysis-inducing peptide tags, alignments, careful documentation and other information; the URL is http://www.indiana.edu/~tmrna. Four pseudoknots are usually present in each tmRNA, so the database is rich with information on pseudoknot variability. Since last year it has doubled (227 tmRNA sequences as of September 2001), a sequence alignment for the tmRNA cofactor SmpB has been included, and genomic data for Clostridium botulinum has revealed a group I (subgroup IA3) intron interrupting the tmRNA T-loop.