The function of lexical motifs in the organization of the Actinomycetes 5S rRNAs

Abstract

This work shows results obtained by employing the linguistic method to identify biologically meaningful sites in Actinomycetes 5S rRNAs. The approach adopted identifies triplet-words, along the base sequence of 5S rRNA, located mainly at the alpha and beta domains of the 5S secondary structure. There are triplet-words representing universal protein binding sites that include important prokaryote signatures, and sites strategically located in critical regions related to the formation of the 5S ribonucleoproteins (RNP) complex. In those sites, where the GC pressure promoted substitutions, the analysis demonstrates that alterations did not affect their biological significance. Sites formed by GGY (or more rarely GGR), continued to play an important role as ribosomal proteins rpL18 and rpL5 protein receptors. The data suggest that instead of increasing the molecular variability, expected for the diversity in species and habitats occupied for the group, GC pressure functioned as a reducer mechanism for the inter-specific diversity.