The int-alpA RNA motif is a conserved RNA structure that was discovered by bioinformatics.[1] int-alpA motif RNAs are found in Pseudomonadota, and one example is known in each of Acidobacteriota and Planctomycetota. An int-alpA was also detected in a purified phage, specifically Thalssomonas phage BA3.

int-alpA
Consensus secondary structure and sequence conservation of int-alpA RNA
Identifiers
Symbolint-alpA
RfamRF02996
Other data
RNA typeGene; sRNA
SOSO:0001263
PDB structuresPDBe

int-alpA RNAs likely function in trans as small RNAs. They are often located nearby to integrase genes that most resemble the homologous gene found in the P4 phage. int-alpA RNAs also often occur nearby to alpA genes, a gene that is also related to phages. Thus the RNA motif seems to function as part of phages.

References

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  1. ^ Weinberg Z, Lünse CE, Corbino KA, Ames TD, Nelson JW, Roth A, Perkins KR, Sherlock ME, Breaker RR (October 2017). "Detection of 224 candidate structured RNAs by comparative analysis of specific subsets of intergenic regions". Nucleic Acids Res. 45 (18): 10811–10823. doi:10.1093/nar/gkx699. PMC 5737381. PMID 28977401.