
Bacillus-plasmid RNA motif

The "Bacillus"-plasmid RNA motif is a predicted conserved RNA structure usually located in plasmids. It is known in species under the genera "Bacillus" and "Lactobacillus". In "Bacillus subtilis", it is found upstream of the hypothetical gene "ydcS", whose function is unknown.
The fact that the RNA structure is typically found in plasmids suggests that it might be involved in the regulation plasmid copy number by a "cis"-antisense mechanism in a manner similar to that of R1162-like plasmid antisense RNA. However, the "Bacillus"-plasmid RNA motif does not appear to be homologous to any such known RNA.