Copies of nucleic acid sequence that are arranged in opposing orientation. They may lie adjacent to each other (tandem) or be separated by some sequence that is not part of the repeat (hyphenated). They may be true palindromic repeats, i.e. read the same backwards as forward, or complementary which reads as the base complement in the opposite orientation. Complementary inverted repeats have the potential to form hairpin loop or stem-loop structures which results in cruciform structures (such as CRUCIFORM DNA) when the complementary inverted repeats occur in double stranded regions.
Entry Term(s)
Hairpin Loop Sequence
Inverted Repeat Sequence
Inverted Tandem Repeats
Palindromic Repeat Sequences
Sequence Palindromes
Stem-Loop Sequence
Public MeSH Note
2009; for INVERTED REPEAT SEQUENCE see REPETITIVE SEQUENCES, NUCLEIC ACID 1990-2008
History Note
2009; for INVERTED REPEAT SEQUENCE use REPETITIVE SEQUENCES, NUCLEIC ACID 1990-2008
Copies of nucleic acid sequence that are arranged in opposing orientation. They may lie adjacent to each other (tandem) or be separated by some sequence that is not part of the repeat (hyphenated). They may be true palindromic repeats, i.e. read the same backwards as forward, or complementary which reads as the base complement in the opposite orientation. Complementary inverted repeats have the potential to form hairpin loop or stem-loop structures which results in cruciform structures (such as CRUCIFORM DNA) when the complementary inverted repeats occur in double stranded regions.
