ManA RNA motif

The "manA" RNA motif (also called manA) refers to a conserved RNA structure that was identified by bioinformatics. Instances of the "manA" RNA motif were detected in bacteria in the genus "Photobacterium" and phages that infect certain kinds of cyanobacteria. However, most predicted "manA" RNA sequences are derived from DNA collected from uncultivated marine bacteria. Almost all "manA" RNAs are positioned such that they might be in the 5' untranslated regions of protein-coding genes, and therefore it was hypothesized that "manA" RNAs function as cis-regulatory elements. Given the relative complexity of their secondary structure, and their hypothesized "cis"-regulatory role, they might be riboswitches.
The genes thought to be regulated by "manA" RNAs are most typically those involved in the metabolism of the sugars fructose and mannose, synthesis of nucleotides, bacterial photosynthesis and a class of protein chaperones known as "ibpA". "manA" RNAs are also often adjacent to transfer RNAs, and are likely transcribed with them. Although these genes are not thought of as typical of phages, it has previously been observed that phages infecting cyanobacteria commonly incorporate such genes.