Tr. Buckley et al., Secondary structure and conserved motifs of the frequently sequenced domains IV and V of the insect mitochondrial large subunit rRNA gene, INSEC MOL B, 9(6), 2000, pp. 565-580
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 (unpublished) for the LSU were identifi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.