MOSQUITO LARGE SUBUNIT RIBOSOMAL-RNA - SIMULTANEOUS ALIGNMENT OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY STRUCTURE

We report the sequence and propose a secondary structure for the cytop lasmic large subunit (5.8S and 28S) ribosomal RNA of the mosquito, Aed es albopictus, in an aligned format that incorporates secondary struct ure comparisons with Home sapiens, Drosophila melanogaster, and Escher ichia coli ribosomal RNAs. This format facilitates comparison of subtl e differences between models, allowing nucleotide by nucleotide analys is at each position of discrepancy. Comparison of the A, albopictus la rge subunit ribosomal RNA gene with those from other species revealed new compensatory base changes. The aligned format focuses attention to the specific contribution of the A. albopictus sequence by facilitati ng comparison with the sequence of another dipteran, D. melanogaster. This is the second report of a complete large subunit rRNA sequence fr om an arthropod, and the first 28S rRNA sequence for a member of the l ower Diptera (Nematocera).