title: In vitro evolution of a self-alkylating ribozyme.
abstract: RNA enzymes are postulated to have catalysed all chemical reactions in the earliest living cells. This idea is now investigated in a search for alkyl transferases from a pool of random sequence RNAs. Selection for self-biotinylation yields a transfer RNA-like ribozyme that efficiently catalyses carbon-nitrogen bond formation. Ribozymes can thus promote reactions other than those involving the RNA sugar-phosphate backbone, suggesting that RNA may be capable of a broad range of catalytic activities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Szostak
mesh_terms: D000478:Alkylation; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001710:Biotin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D002384:Catalysis; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA; D005029:Ethylenediamines / Q000378:metabolism; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005029:Ethylenediamines; C093128:N-biotinoyl-N'-iodoacetylethylenediamine; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D001710:Biotin; D004247:DNA