Open AccessBacterial group II introns: not just splicing
Author(s) -
Toro Nicolás,
JiménezZurdo José Ignacio,
GarcíaRodríguez Fernando Manuel
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
fems microbiology reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.91
H-Index - 212
eISSN - 1574-6976
pISSN - 0168-6445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2007.00068.x
Subject(s) - group ii intron , intron , biology , ribozyme , rna splicing , minor spliceosome , gene , genetics , mobile genetic elements , group i catalytic intron , computational biology , rna , genome
Group II introns are both catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) and mobile retroelements that were discovered almost 14 years ago. It has been suggested that eukaryotic mRNA introns might have originated from the group II introns present in the alphaproteobacterial progenitor of the mitochondria. Bacterial group II introns are of considerable interest not only because of their evolutionary significance, but also because they could potentially be used as tools for genetic manipulation in biotechnology and for gene therapy. This review summarizes what is known about the splicing mechanisms and mobility of bacterial group II introns, and describes the recent development of group II intron‐based gene‐targetting methods. Bacterial group II intron diversity, evolutionary relationships, and behaviour in bacteria are also discussed.