Modified Nucleotides in Archaeal RNAs
Henri Grosjean, Ramesh Gupta and E. Stuart Maxwell
from: Archaea: New Models for Prokaryotic Biology (Edited by: Paul Blum). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2008)
Abstract
Modified nucleotides increase the structural and functional diversity of RNA well beyond the four canonical bases. They are abundant in Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya and play important roles in regulating RNA function in all three domains of life. In Archaea, both transfer and ribosomal RNAs possess numerous modified nucleosides with some unique to Archaea and others shared with Bacteria and/or Eukarya. The diversity of archaeal nucleoside modifications is matched by the complexity of machineries and biosynthetic pathways that carry out these modifications. In this chapter, we discuss the diversity of nucleosides found in many different archaeal organisms and detail their occurrence in different RNA species. We also examine the enzymes used to accomplish these nucleoside modifications, reviewing both protein-only and RNA-guided ribonucleoprotein enzymes. Throughout this discussion, we provide the reader with additional reference sources that should be helpful for exploring further the modified nucleosides and modification enzymes of Archaea read more ...
