Conversion of a ribozyme to a deoxyribozyme through in vitro evolution.
An RNA ligase ribozyme was converted to a corresponding deoxyribozyme through in vitro evolution. The ribozyme was prepared as a DNA molecule of the same sequence, and had no detectable activity. A population of randomized variants of this DNA was constructed and evolved to perform RNA ligation at a rate similar to that of the starting ribozyme. When the deoxyribozyme was prepared as an RNA molecule of the same sequence, it had no detectable activity. Thus, the evolutionary transition from an RNA to a DNA enzyme represents a switch, rather than a broadening, of the chemical basis for catalytic function. This transfer of both information and function is relevant to the transition between two different genetic systems based on nucleic acid-like molecules, as postulated to have occurred during the early history of life on Earth.
Paul
Natasha
N
Department of Chemistry, The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Springsteen
Greg
G
Joyce
Gerald F
GF
D001483:Base Sequence; D021881:DNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013698:Templates, Genetic
D021881:DNA, Catalytic; D016337:RNA, Catalytic