Evolutionary conservation of RNA sequence and structure
By Elena Rivas, Harvard University. Cambridge, US
Host: Cedric Notredame, Comparative Bioinformatics Group Leader, CRG
Many fundamental cellular functions depend on a variety of RNA structures conserved through evolution, and other functional RNA structures are expected to be discovered. Knowing when an RNA sequence includes a conserved RNA structure is not trivial and depends on clues left behind by conservation, variation and covariation. A signature of a conserved RNA structure is found in alignments where paired positions display correlated substitutions (covariation) that preserve the base pair. This evolutionary signal can be used both to predict RNA structure and to identify new conserved RNAs.
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