Small subunit ribosomal ribonucleic acid (SSU rRNA) is the smaller of the two major RNA components of the ribosome. Associated with a number of ribosomal proteins, the SSU rRNA forms the small subunit of the ribosome. It is encoded by SSU-rDNA.
Characteristics + Characteristics of the SSU rRNA for exemplary species.TypeSSU rRNA sizeSpeciesLengthAccessionReference Bacterial (Prokaryotic) 16S Escherichia coli 1,541 nt J01859.1 Archaeal (Prokaryotic) 16S Halobacterium salinarum 1,473 nt M38280.1 Eukaryotic 18S Homo sapiens 1,969 nt M10098.1 Mitochondrial 12S Homo sapiens 954 nt NC_012920.1Homo sapiens mitochondrion, complete genome. "Revised Cambridge Reference Sequence (rCRS): accession NC_012920", National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved on 20 February 2017. Plastid 16S Arabidopsis thaliana 1,491 nt NC_000932.1
Use in phylogenetics SSU rRNA sequences are widely used for determining evolutionary relationships among organisms, since they are of ancient origin and are found in all known forms of life.
See also LSU rRNA: the large subunit ribosomal ribonucleic acid.
References