SL1 RNA

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SL1 RNA is a small RNA that belongs to a family of SL1 RNAs. The gene for SL1 RNA is often found in the spacer region between 5S rRNA genes. SL1 RNA helps with trans-splicing, a process that adds a spliced leader from the SL1 RNA to exons from different transcripts, producing mature messenger RNA. This mRNA maturation mechanism occurs in many lower eukaryotes and is especially common in nematodes. SL1 RNA has a characteristic structure and shows conserved sequences across species.