Insertion of group II intron retroelements after intrinsic transcriptional terminators

Abstract

Mobile DNAs use many mechanisms to minimize damage to their hosts. Here we show that a subclass of group II introns avoids host damage by inserting directly after transcriptional terminator motifs in bacterial genomes (stem-loops followed by Ts). This property contrasts with the site-specific behavior of most group II introns, which insert into homing site sequences. Reconstituted ribonucleo protein particles of the Bacillus halodurans intron B.h.I1 are shown to reverse-splice into DNA targets in vitro but require the DNA to be single-stranded and fold into a stem-loop analogous to the RNA structure that forms during transcription termination. Recognition of this DNA stem-loop motif accounts for in vivo target specificity. Insertion after terminators is a previously unrecognized strategy for a selfish DNA because it prevents interruption of coding sequences and restricts expression of the mobile DNA after integration.