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49396 Bos taurus sequence windows
comprising 3313 of 9218 genes.

55659 Caenorhabiditis elegans sequence windows
comprising 2656 of 50914 genes.

31789 Danio rerio sequence windows
comprising 1958 of 33997 genes.

9039 Drosophila melanogaster sequence windows
comprising 595 of 5005 genes.

17002 Escherichia coli sequence windows
comprising 1242 of 4319 genes.

32107 Gallus gallus sequence windows
comprising 1894 of 4450 genes.

1314 Haloarcula marismortui sequence windows
comprising 115 of 3412 genes.

191654 Homo sapiens sequence windows
comprising 11513 of 29245 genes.

101759 Kluyveromyces polysporous sequence windows
comprising 3748 of 5527 genes.

86985 Mus musculus sequence windows
comprising 5942 of 15663 genes.

27134 Rattus norvegicus sequence windows
comprising 1971 of 5376 genes.

73120 Saccharomyces bayanus sequence windows
comprising 2952 of 4970 genes.

75714 Saccharomyces castellii sequence windows
comprising 2971 of 4684 genes.

149982 Saccharomyces cerevisiae sequence windows
comprising 4128 of 6352 genes.

34364 Saccharomyces kluyveri sequence windows
comprising 1669 of 2977 genes.

49028 Saccharomyces kudriavzevii sequence windows
comprising 2215 of 3778 genes.

41794 Saccharomyces mikatae sequence windows
comprising 1871 of 3109 genes.

116853 Saccharomyces paradoxus sequence windows
comprising 4720 of 8955 genes.

104114 Schizosaccharomyces pombe sequence windows
comprising 3616 of 5091 genes.

2314 Virus sequence windows
comprising 53 of 417 genes.

80880 Xenopus laevis sequence windows
comprising 4847 of 26537 genes.

44264 Xenopus tropicalis sequence windows
comprising 2663 of 5126 genes.

Welcome!

Cis-acting mRNA elements that program ribosomes to shift translational reading frame were first discovered in viruses. These programmed -1 ribosomal frameshift (-1 PRF) signals are composed of a heptameric "slippery site" followed by an mRNA pseudoknot secondary structure. 1

Viruses typically use -1 PRF as a genome condensation strategy; enabling them to encode multiple proteins from a single unaltered mRNA. Historically, because of their relative simplicity, many molecular regulatory elements have been first discovered in viruses: -1 PRF is no different.

We developed a computational method to identify putative -1 PRF signals in eukaryotic genomic sequences. Subsets of these sequences were shown to stimulate significant -1 programmed frameshifting using dual-luciferase reporter constructs. 2

Analysis of these signals suggests that, after a frameshifting event, ribosomes would be directed to translate premature termination codons. These should promote mRNA destabilization via the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. We previously showed that a viral -1 PRF signal cloned in a similar context can function as an mRNA destabilizing element. 3 This suggests that regulation of -1 PRF may be used to regulate cellular gene expression by controlling mRNA stability. In addition, ribosome stalling induced by strong mRNA structures can also promote mRNA degradation via 'No-go decay,' suggesting that our computational approach may be capable of identifying a class of mRNA destabilizing elements independent of -1 PRF.

This online database is focused on cataloging programmed ribosomal frameshift signals (PRF) in eukaryotic genomes. Please search for a gene of interest or select one of the links above to get started. Most of the sequence information from this database came from either the Yeast Genome Project or the Mammalian Gene Collection.

It is possible to search for any word(s) from the NCBI or SGD gene description as well as the canonical gene name. Thus searching for 'RPL' or 'ribosome' are likely candidates for looking at ribosomal genes.


  1. Plant, E.P., Muldoon Jacobs, K.L., Harger, J.W., Meskauskas, A., Jacobs, J.L., Baxter, J.L., Petrov, A.N., Dinman, J.D. The 9-Å solution: How mRNA pseudoknots promote efficient programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting. RNA (9), 168-174 (2003).
  2. Jacobs JL, Belew AT, Rakauskaite R, Dinman JD. Identification of functional, endogenous programmed -1 ribosomal frameshift signals in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae NAR 2006 Dec7
  3. Plant EP, Wang P, Jacobs JL and Dinman JD. A programmed –1 ribosomal frameshift signal can function as a cis-acting mRNA destabilizing element. NAR (32), 784-790 (2004).