A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology · Communauté urbaine de Lyon
Abstract
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural complexity impede self-replication and preclude their spontaneous emergence. Here, we describe QT45, a 45-nucleotide polymerase ribozyme, discovered from random sequence pools, that catalyzes general RNA-templated RNA synthesis using trinucleotide triphosphate (triplet) substrates in mildly alkaline eutectic ice. QT45 can synthesize both its complementary strand using a random triplet pool at 94.1% per-nucleotide fidelity and a copy of itself using defined substrates, both with yields of ~0.2% in 72 days. The…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 71.78
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 70
Authors
8Topics & keywords
- Ribozyme
- Polymerase
- Ligase ribozyme
- RNA polymerase I
- RNA polymerase
- RNA
- RNA polymerase II
- RNA-dependent RNA polymerase