Riboswitches: natural SELEXion.
Advances in our knowledge of the structure and chemistry of RNA have been harnessed in the process known as SELEX to develop artificial RNA-based molecules that can act as enzymes and ligand binders performing a wide variety of functions. The discovery of riboswitches, natural RNA aptamers involved in genetic regulation, offers a basis of comparison between the artificial selection and the natural selection of structured RNAs for small-molecule recognition. The guanine riboswitch structural determination allows us to draw conclusions regarding the apparent increased complexity of the riboswitch aptamers compared to their in-vitro-selected cousins.
Gilbert
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Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Campus Box 215, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0215, USA.
Batey
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D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000378:metabolism*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D052156:SELEX Aptamer Technique
D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D012313:RNA