Secondary structure and conserved motifs of the frequently sequenced domains IV and V of the insect mitochondrial large subunit rRNA gene

We have analysed over 400 partial insect mitochondrial large subunit (mit L SU) sequences in order to identify conserved motifs and secondary structure s for domains IV and V of this gene. Most of the secondary structure elemen ts described by R. R. Gutell et al. (unpublished) for the LSU were identifi ed. However, we present structures for helices 84 and 91 that are not recog nized in previous universal models. The portion of the 16S gene containing domains IV and V is frequently sequenced in insect molecular systematic stu dies so we have many more sequences than previous studies which focused on the complete mitochondrial LSU molecule. In addition, we have the advantage of investigating several sets of closely related taxa. Aligned sequences f rom thirteen insect orders and nine secondary structure diagrams are presen ted,These conserved sequence motifs and their associated secondary structur e elements can now be used to facilitate the alignment of other insect mit LSU sequences.