title: Thiophosphate interference experiments locate phosphates important for the hammerhead RNA self-cleavage reaction.
abstract: A hammerhead domain of less than 50 nucleotides is responsible for a self-cleavage reaction in the replication of plant RNA pathogens. The hammerhead is composed of three helices joining at a central conserved core of 11 single stranded nucleotides. The core is believed to fold into a tertiary structure that provides functional groups for catalysis and to coordinate one or more divalent metal ions. In this study we use a phosphorothioate substitution interference assay to identify four phosphates in the conserved core which also play a role in the self-cleavage reaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Ruffner
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Uhlenbeck
mesh_terms: D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology; D007700:Kinetics; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012326:RNA Splicing / Q000187:drug effects*; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000378:metabolism*; D012265:Ribonucleotides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013604:T-Phages / Q000201:enzymology; D013873:Thionucleotides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012265:Ribonucleotides; D013873:Thionucleotides; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases