New insight into RNase P RNA structure from comparative analysis of the archaeal RNA.

A detailed comparative analysis of archaeal RNase P RNA structure and a comparison of the resulting structural information with that of the bacterial RNA reveals that the archaeal RNase P RNAs are strikingly similar to those of Bacteria. The differences between the secondary structure models of archaeal and bacterial RNase P RNA have largely disappeared, and even variation in the sequence and structure of the RNAs are similar in extent and type. The structure of the cruciform (P7-11) has been reevaluated on the basis of a total of 321 bacterial and archaeal sequences, leading to a model for the structure of this region of the RNA that includes an extension to P11 that consistently organizes the cruciform and adjacent highly-conserved sequences.