Identification and structural analysis of a novel snoRNA gene cluster from Arabidopsis thaliana

A Z2 snoRNA gene cluster, consisting of four antisense snoRNA genes, was identified from Arabidopsis thaliana. The sequence and structural analysis showed that the Z2 snoRNA gene cluster might be transcribed as a polycistronic precursor from an upstream promoter, and the intergenic spacers of the gene cluster encode the 'hairpin' structures similar to the processing recognition signals of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae polycistronic snoRNA precursor. The results also revealed that plant snoRNA gene with multiple copies is a characteristic in common, and provides a good system for further revealing the transcription and expression mechanism of plant snoRNA gene cluster.