SucA RNA motif

The sucA RNA motif is a conserved RNA structure found in bacteria of the order Burkholderiales. [cite journal |author=Weinberg Z, Barrick JE, Yao Z, "et al" |title=Identification of 22 candidate structured RNAs in bacteria using the CMfinder comparative genomics pipeline |journal=Nucleic Acids Res. |volume=35 |issue=14 |pages=4809–19 |year=2007 |pmid=17621584 |pmc=1950547 |doi=10.1093/nar/gkm487 |url=] RNAs within this motif are always found in the presumed 5' UTR of "sucA" genes. "sucA" encodes a subunit of an enzyme that participates in the citric acid cycle by synthesizing succinyl-CoA from 2-oxoglutarate. A part of the conserved structure overlaps predicted Shine-Dalgarno sequences (involved in ribosome binding) of the downstream "sucA" genes. Because of the RNA motif's consistent gene association and a possible mechanism for sequestering the ribosome binding site, it was proposed that the sucA RNA motif corresponds to a cis-regulatory element. Its relatively complex secondary structure could indicate that it is a riboswitch. However, the function of this RNA motif remains unknown.

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