Round 9 release-defective 6S RNA consensus compared with binding and release selection. (A) Consensus sequence based on 71 variants from the binding and no release selection performed in this study. The “-35” sequence is conserved in 6S RNA release-defective mutants. Significant changes away from the biological consensus were found in the vicinity of the pRNA TSS (noted by arrow). (B) Consensus sequence based on 60 variants from a previous binding and release selection (Shephard et al. 2010). Black residues were deliberately mutagenized in the initial pool synthesis and were found to vary. Purple residues were completely conserved after the selection. Nucleotide variants and base-paired residues are color coded according to the observed percentage of mutational frequency.
