Evolution of Fungal U3 snoRNAs: Structural Variation and Introns

The U3 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) is an essential player in the initial steps of ribosomal RNA biogenesis which is ubiquitously present in Eukarya. It is exceptional among the small nucleolar RNAs in its size, the presence of multiple conserved sequence boxes, a highly conserved secondary structure core, its biogenesis as an independent gene transcribed by polymerase III, and its involvement in pre-rRNA cleavage rather than chemical modification. Fungal U3 snoRNAs share many features with their sisters from other eukaryotic kingdoms but differ from them in particular in their 5’ regions, which in fungi has a distinctive consensus structure and often harbours introns. Here we report on a comprehensive homology search and detailed analysis of the evolution of sequence and secondary structure features covering the entire kingdom Fungi.