The Rickettsia rpsL leader is a putative attenuator element identified by bioinformatics within bacteria of the α-proteobacterial genus Rickettsia.[1] It is located upstream of the operon encoding ribosomal proteins S12 and S7 (rpsL and rpsG genes respectively), and presents a Rho-independent terminator at the 3' end. This RNA is presumed to operate as a non-coding ribosomal protein leader potentially interacting with the S12 or S7 proteins, encoded by the operon. The motif might be related to other rpsL leaders, such as that from Pseudomonas.[1]
| Rickettsia rpsL leader | |
|---|---|
 Conserved secondary structure of Rickettsia rpsL leader showing the fraction of canonical base pairs | |
| Identifiers | |
| Symbol | rpsL_ricks |
| Rfam | RF01774 |
| Other data | |
| RNA type | Cis-reg; leader |
| Domain(s) | Rickettsia |
| PDB structures | PDBe |