SAM-IV riboswitches are a kind of
riboswitch
In molecular biology, a riboswitch is a regulatory segment of a messenger RNA molecule that binds a small molecule, resulting in a change in production of the proteins encoded by the mRNA. Thus, an mRNA that contains a riboswitch is directly in ...
that specifically binds
S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a cofactor used in many methylation reactions. Originally identified by
bioinformatics
Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...
, SAM-IV riboswitches are largely confined to the
Actinomycetales, an order of
Bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
. Conserved features of SAM-IV riboswitch and experiments imply that they probably share a similar SAM-binding site to another class of SAM-binding riboswitches called
SAM-I riboswitches. However, the scaffolds of these two types of riboswitch appear to be quite distinct. The structural relationship between these riboswitch types has been studied.
See also
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SAM-I riboswitch
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SAM-II riboswitch
The SAM-II riboswitch is a RNA element found predominantly in Alphaproteobacteria that binds S-adenosyl methionine (SAM). Its structure and sequence appear to be unrelated to the SAM riboswitch found in Gram-positive bacteria. This SAM riboswit ...
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SAM-III riboswitch
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SAM-V riboswitch
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SAM-VI riboswitch
References
External links
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Cis-regulatory RNA elements
Riboswitch
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