HgcC family RNA

HgcC is a small non coding RNA (ncRNA). It is the functional product of a gene which is not translated into protein.

This ncRNA gene was originally identified by computationally searching the genome of the thermophilic bacteria Methanococcus jannaschii for non-coding regions of high guanine-cytosine (GC) content. The original rational for this search was based on the observation that the genomes of these bacteria are adenosine-thiamine (AT) rich and consequently have a low GC content. However, the GC content of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA) genes in hyperthermophiles shows a strong correlation with optimal growth temperature. It was proposed that non coding regions of high GC-content might encode functional RNA products. The computational screen identified 5 novel ncRNA genes in the genome of M.jannaschii. These were named hgcA through hgcG ("high GC"). Two other homologues were detected called HhcA and HhcB after "homologue of hgcC".

The HgcC gene product was experimentally validated by Northern blot and RACE-PCR analysis. The function of this ncRNA is not known.