A multisubunit ribozyme that is a catalyst of and template for complementary strand RNA synthesis.
Derivatives of the sunY self-splicing intron efficiently catalyzed the synthesis of complementary strand RNA by template-directed assembly of oligonucleotides. These ribozymes were separated into three short RNA fragments that formed active catalytic complexes. One of the multisubunit sunY derivatives catalyzed the synthesis of a strand of RNA complementary to one of its own subunits. These results suggest that prebiotically synthesized oligonucleotides might have been able to assemble into a complex capable of self-replication.
Doudna
J A
JA
Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114.
Couture
S
S
Szostak
J W
JW
D000818:Animals; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009843:Oligoribonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D012326:RNA Splicing; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000378:metabolism*; D013698:Templates, Genetic; D013768:Tetrahymena / Q000235:genetics*
D009843:Oligoribonucleotides; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012313:RNA