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2 "group II intron"
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Genomic landscape reveals the dominance of self-catalytic, high-copy group II introns in PMU-deficient complete genomes of PWB phytoplasmas
Kiran Kirdat, Malad Mubarak, Pradeep Choudhary, Shivaji Sathe, Amit Yadav
Received November 5, 2025  Accepted January 16, 2026  Published online March 19, 2026  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.71150/jm.2511004    [Epub ahead of print]
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Phytoplasmas are wall-less obligate parasites of plants and insects. Several phytoplasma strains within the Peanut Witches’ Broom (PWB; 16SrII) group are associated with significant disease losses across diverse crops and weeds. We present complete, single contig genome assemblies for two Indian parthenium phyllody strains, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asiaticum’ PR34 and ‘Ca. P. australasiaticum’ PR08, generated through host DNA depletion and hybrid Illumina–Nanopore sequencing. Both genomes display characteristic features of reductive evolution (∼614 kb and 589 kb, respectively) but show notable differences from previously sequenced PWB phytoplasmas. In contrast to most of PMU-rich phytoplasma genomes, neither PR34 nor PR08 retains intact Potential Mobile Units. Instead, both harbor numerous open reading frames encoding group II intron reverse transcriptase/ maturase proteins, predominantly of the mitochondrial-like type, with PR34 containing 52 and PR08 28 such loci that together constitute > 4% of each genome. These observations support the hypothesis that intron-associated processes may contribute to genome variability in the absence of canonical PMUs. Comparative analyses support the classification of PR34 as a distinct species within the PWB complex and reveal both conserved Sec-dependent effectors (SAP05, SAP11, and SAP54/PHYL1) and lineage-specific secreted proteins with predicted nuclear localization. Additional retained features include functional sodA genes and multiple truncated HlyB-like transporters. Collectively, these high-quality genomes illustrate a genomic configuration in which extensive genome reduction and loss of PMUs coexist with the retention of core virulence factors and an expanded repertoire of group II introns, providing a framework for future investigation of genome plasticity in phytoplasmas.

Transposition of IntAs into the Conserved Regions of IS3 Family Elements
Chang-Gyun Han
J. Microbiol. 2004;42(1):56-59.
DOI: https://doi.org/1999 [pii]
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Together with the previous reports, my computer survey revealed that several bacteria contain six copies of the type group II intron IntA. The sequence analysis of IntAs showed the high level of homology in the nucleotide sequence (91.9~99.8%). The consensus sequence, 2,270 base pair long, was derived from the nucleotide sequences of all IntA members. The size of the open reading frame intA was 502 amino acids long, that is homologous to reverse transcriptase-like proteins encoded within the group II introns. It was reported that EPEC.IntA and Sf.IntA were inserted into IS911 and IS629, respectively. The sequence of the flanking region IntA was analyzed here. The data show the insertion of EC.IntA into IS629, the insertion of EHEC.IntA into IS3, the insertion of Yp.IntA into IS904-like sequence, and the insertion of EK12.IntA into IS911. Interestingly, these IS elements nested by IntAs were the members of IS3 family elements. The sequences of the IS3 members correspond to the OrfB with the DDE motif conserved in retroviral integrases. Alignment of the flanking sequences of IntAs revealed that the flanking regions -25 to +10 of insertion sites, that are generally believed to be required for the retrohoming, were not strongly conserved. The data presented here suggests that the retrohoming pathway of IntA seems to differ from those of other group II introns.

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