LSU structures using single-page layouts

This post originally appeared on the RNAcentral blog on December 20th 2019. At that time R2DT was called auto-traveler.

We continue to expand the coverage of the RNA secondary structure space. After generating diagrams for SSU and 5S rRNA as well as >2,000 Rfam families, we now provide secondary structure visualisations for the large ribosomal subunits (LSU). For example, here are the human and the Escherichia coli LSUs displayed using single-page layouts:

LSU example diagrams

This work was done in collaboration with Anton S. Petrov and Loren Dean Williams from the Center for the Origins of Life (COOL) at Georgia Tech, who generated 17 manually curated LSU templates based on the experimentally determined 3D structures. These templates cover a wide taxonomic distribution in order to accurately model the expansion segments. The auto-traveler software now supports the LSU templates and generated >100,000 LSU diagrams. For the first time it is possible to visualise some of the largest known structured RNAs using a fully automatic approach. Explore the new structures in RNAcentral.