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Abstract
A shortened form of the self-splicing ribosomal RNA intervening sequence of Tetrahymena thermophila has enzymatic activity as a poly(cytidylic acid) polymerase [Zaug, A.J. & Cech, T.R. (1986) Science 231, 470-475]. Based on the known properties of this enzyme, a detailed model is developed for the template-dependent synthesis of RNA by an RNA polymerase itself made of RNA. The monomer units for RNA synthesis are tetra- and pentanucleotides of random base sequence. Polymerization occurs in a 5'-to-3' direction, and elongation rates are expected to approach two residues per minute. If the RNA enzyme could use another copy of itself as a template, RNA self-replication could be achieved. Thus, it seems possible that RNA catalysts might have played a part in prebiotic nucleic acid replication, prior to the availability of useful proteins.
A model for the RNA-catalyzed replication of RNA
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- The RNA Worlds in Context
- The Origins of the RNA World
- Importance of compartment formation for a self-encoding system
- RNA-Catalyzed RNA Polymerization: Accurate and General RNA-Templated Primer Extension
- Differential adsorption of nucleic acid bases: Relevance to the origin of life
- A complex ligase ribozyme evolved in vitro from a group I ribozyme domain
- Group II intron RNA catalysis of progressive nucleotide insertion: a model for RNA editing
- Aminoacyl esterase activity of the Tetrahymena ribozyme
- RNA as an RNA polymerase: net elongation of an RNA primer catalyzed by the Tetrahymena ribozyme
- The chemistry of self-splicing RNA and RNA enzymes
- Splicing of messenger RNA precursors
- Structures Involved in Tetrahymena rRNA Self-splicing and RNA Enzyme Activity
- Nonenzymatic Template-directed Synthesis of Informational Macromolecules
- What Introns Have to Tell Us: Hierarchy in Genome Evolution
- Evolution of Catalytic Function
- Internal Guide Sequence and Reaction Specificity of Group I Self-splicing Introns
- Evolution of the Genetic Apparatus: A Review
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