The Neurospora crassa mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (CYT-18 protein) functions in splicing group I introns by promoting the formation of the catalytically active RNA structure. Previous work suggested that CYT-18 recognizes a conserved tRNA-like structure of the group I intron catalytic core. Here, directed hydroxyl-radical cleavage assays show that the nucleotide-binding fold and C-ter...

Group I introns and homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) are mobile genetic elements, capable of invading target sequences in intron-less genomes. LAGLIDADG HEGs are the largest family of endonucleases, playing a key role in the mobility of group I introns in a process known as 'homing'. Group I introns and HEGs are rare in metazoans, and can be mainly found inserted in the COXI gene of some sponge...

Homing endonucleases encoded in a group I self-splicing intron in a protein-coding gene in cyanophage genomes have not been reported, apart from some free-standing homing edonucleases. In this study, a nicking DNA endonuclease, I-PfoP3I, encoded in a group IA2 intron in the DNA polymerase gene of a T7-like cyanophage Pf-WMP3, which infects the freshwater cyanobacterium Phormidium foveolarum is ...

The myxomycete Didymium iridis (isolate Panama 2) contains a mobile group I intron named Dir.S956-1 after position 956 in the nuclear small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene. The intron is efficiently spread through homing by the intron-encoded homing endonuclease I-DirI. Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) usually spread with their associated introns as a unit, but infrequently also spread independent of i...

Many group I introns encode endonucleases that promote intron homing by initiating a double-stranded break-mediated homologous recombination event. In this work we describe intron homing in Bacillus subtilis phages SPO1 and SP82. The introns encode the DNA endonucleases I-HmuI and I-HmuII, respectively, which belong to the H-N-H endonuclease family and possess nicking activity in vitro. Coinfec...

In eukaryotes, introns are located in nuclear and organelle genes from several kingdoms. Large introns (up to 5 kbp) are frequent in mitochondrial genomes of plant and fungi but scarce in Metazoa, even if these organisms are grouped with fungi among the Opisthokonts. Mitochondrial introns are classified in two groups (I and II) according to their RNA secondary structure involved in the intron s...

The Neurospora CYT-18 protein, the mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, functions in splicing group I introns in mitochondria. Here, we show that CYT-18 binds strongly to diverse group I introns that have minimal sequence homology and recognizes highly conserved structural features of the catalytic core of these introns. Inhibition experiments indicate that the intron RNA and tRNA(Tyr) compet...