title: α-Complementation in an artificial genome replication system in liposomes.
abstract: Genome size is considered one of the limiting factors for the replication of primitive life forms. However, the relationship between genome size and replication efficiency has not been tested experimentally. In this study, we examined the effect of genome size on genome replication by using an artificial cell model: a self-replicating RNA genome encapsulated in a liposome. For the reduced genome size we used α-complementation of the lacZ gene. We first characterized α-complementation in the purified translation system and then applied α-complementation to the genome replication system. The reduction in the genome size together with the addition of ω-fragment increased the replication efficiency approximately eightfold. This result provides experimental evidence that genome size can be a limiting factor for primitive self-replication systems; it also implies that this artificial cell model could be a useful experimental model to identify possible mechanisms of genome enlargement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics Engineering, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
authors.forename: Norikazu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ichihashi
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Yasuaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kazuta
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yomo
mesh_terms: D032701:Biomimetics; D002214:Capsules; D004261:DNA Replication; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D059646:Genome Size; D007763:Lac Operon / Q000235:genetics; D008081:Liposomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012313:RNA / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D002214:Capsules; D008081:Liposomes; D012313:RNA