The Rumen-Originating, Ornate, Large (ROOL) RNA motif was originally discovered by bioinformatics by analyzing metagenomic sequences from cow rumen.

[1] ROOL RNAs are found in a variety of bacterial species and apparently do not code for proteins.

These shared properties could suggest a related function, but the commonalities could arise for other reasons.

[1] ROOL RNAs are present in bacteria in the phyla Bacillota, Fusobacteriota and Mycoplasmatota,[1] in addition to phages and cow rumen metagenomes, as mentioned above.

Within the Bacillota, they are present in a few species of Clostridia and many lactic acid bacteria, especially those in the genus Lactobacillus.