SQ1002 is a 191nt small RNA identified in Clostridioides difficile 630 by RNA deep sequencing and confirmed by Northern blot and RT-PCR.[1] Extremities were confirmed by 5’ and 3’-RACE.
This RNA is found in several C. difficile strains at syntenic positions between a putative acyltransferase gene and a ferrous iron transport gene. No homologs were found outside C. difficile, although a putative paralog was found in C. difficile 630, located between a tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase gene and a pseudogene.
Due to lack of sequence variation, the proposed secondary structure is not supported by any covariation and should be considered speculative.