A horizontally acquired group II intron in the chloroplast psbA gene of a psychrophilic Chlamydomonas: In vitro self-splicing and genetic evidence for maturase activity

The majority of known group II introns are from chloroplast genomes, yet the first self-splicing group II intron from a chloroplast gene was reported only recently, from the psbA gene of the euglenoid, Euglena myxocylindracea. Herein, we describe a large (2.6-kb) group II intron from the psbA gene (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:RNA
Main Authors: ODOM, OBED W., SHENKENBERG, DAVID L., GARCIA, JOSHUA A., HERRIN, DAVID L.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Copyright 2004 by RNA Society 2004
Subjects:
Article
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1370600
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15208445
https://doi.org/10.1261/rna.7140604
Description
Summary:The majority of known group II introns are from chloroplast genomes, yet the first self-splicing group II intron from a chloroplast gene was reported only recently, from the psbA gene of the euglenoid, Euglena myxocylindracea. Herein, we describe a large (2.6-kb) group II intron from the psbA gene (psbA1) of a psychrophilic Chlamydomonas sp. from Antarctica that self-splices accurately in vitro. Remarkably, this intron, which also encodes an ORF with putative reverse transcriptase, maturase, and endonuclease domains, is in the same location, and is related to the E. myxocylindracea intron, as well as to group IIB2 introns from cyanobacteria. In vitro self-splicing of Chs.psbA1 occurred via a lariat, and required Mg2+ (>12 mM) and NH4+. Self-splicing was improved by deleting most of the ORF and by using pre-RNAs directly from transcription reactions, suggestive of a role for folding during transcription. Self-splicing of Chs.psbA1 pre-RNAs showed temperature optima of ~44°C, but with a broad shoulder on the low side of the peak; splicing was nearly absent at 50°C, indicative of thermolability. Splicing of wild-type Chs.psbA1 also occurred in Escherichia coli, but not when the ORF was disrupted by mutations, providing genetic evidence that it has maturase activity. This work provides the first description of a ribozyme from a psychrophilic organism. It also appears to provide a second instance of interkingdom horizontal transfer of this group IIB2 intron (or a close relative) from cyanobacteria to chloroplasts.

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