IMES-4 RNA motif
Encyclopedia
The IMES-4 RNA motif is a conserved RNA
structure that was identified in marine environmental sequences by metagenomics
and bioinformatics
. These RNAs are present in environmental sequences
, and as of 2009 are not known to be present in any cultivated species
. IMES-4 RNAs are fairly abundant in comparison to ribosome
s in RNAs sampled from the Pacific Ocean
.
RNA
Ribonucleic acid , or RNA, is one of the three major macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life....
structure that was identified in marine environmental sequences by metagenomics
Metagenomics
Metagenomics is the study of metagenomes, genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples. The broad field may also be referred to as environmental genomics, ecogenomics or community genomics. Traditional microbiology and microbial genome sequencing rely upon cultivated clonal cultures...
and bioinformatics
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. Bioinformatics deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, software...
. These RNAs are present in environmental sequences
RNAs present in environmental samples
A wide variety of non-coding RNAs have been identified in various species of organisms known to science. However, RNAs have also been identified in "metagenomics" sequences derived from samples of DNA or RNA extracted from the environment, which contain unknown species. Initial work in this area...
, and as of 2009 are not known to be present in any cultivated species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. IMES-4 RNAs are fairly abundant in comparison to ribosome
Ribosome
A ribosome is a component of cells that assembles the twenty specific amino acid molecules to form the particular protein molecule determined by the nucleotide sequence of an RNA molecule....
s in RNAs sampled from the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.