Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 21 July 2000:
Vol. 289. no. 5478, pp. 448 - 452
DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5478.448
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

One Sequence, Two Ribozymes: Implications for the Emergence of New Ribozyme Folds

Erik A. Schultes, David P. Bartel*

We describe a single RNA sequence that can assume either of two ribozyme folds and catalyze the two respective reactions. The two ribozyme folds share no evolutionary history and are completely different, with no base pairs (and probably no hydrogen bonds) in common. Minor variants of this sequence are highly active for one or the other reaction, and can be accessed from prototype ribozymes through a series of neutral mutations. Thus, in the course of evolution, new RNA folds could arise from preexisting folds, without the need to carry inactive intermediate sequences. This raises the possibility that biological RNAs having no structural or functional similarity might share a common ancestry. Furthermore, functional and structural divergence might, in some cases, precede rather than follow gene duplication.

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dbartel{at}wi.mit.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Bacteriophage P22 Antitermination boxB Sequence Requirements Are Complex and Overlap with Those of {lambda}.
A. I. Cocozaki, I. R. Ghattas, and C. A. Smith (2008)
J. Bacteriol. 190, 4263-4271
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Encoding folding paths of RNA switches.
A. Xayaphoummine, V. Viasnoff, S. Harlepp, and H. Isambert (2007)
Nucleic Acids Res. 35, 614-622
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Modular evolution and increase of functional complexity in replicating RNA molecules.
S. C. Manrubia and C. Briones (2007)
RNA 13, 97-107
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Structural parameters affecting the kinetics of RNA hairpin formation.
J. H. A. Nagel, C. Flamm, I. L. Hofacker, K. Franke, M. H. de Smit, P. Schuster, and C. W. A. Pleij (2006)
Nucleic Acids Res. 34, 3568-3576
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Exact solution of the Eigen model with general fitness functions and degradation rates.
D. B. Saakian and C.-K. Hu (2006)
PNAS 103, 4935-4939
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Unbiased in vitro selection reveals the unique character of the self-cleaving antigenomic HDV RNA sequence.
A. Nehdi and J.-P. Perreault (2006)
Nucleic Acids Res. 34, 584-592
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Molecular beacons as probes of RNA unfolding under native conditions.
J. F. Hopkins and S. A. Woodson (2005)
Nucleic Acids Res. 33, 5763-5770
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Circuit topology and the evolution of robustness in two-gene circadian oscillators.
A. Wagner (2005)
PNAS 102, 11775-11780
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Structural specificity conferred by a group I RNA peripheral element.
T. H. Johnson, P. Tijerina, A. B. Chadee, D. Herschlag, and R. Russell (2005)
PNAS 102, 10176-10181
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
In vitro RNA random pools are not structurally diverse: A computational analysis.
J. GEVERTZ, H. H. GAN, and T. SCHLICK (2005)
RNA 11, 853-863
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Predicting a set of minimal free energy RNA secondary structures common to two sequences.
D. H. Mathews (2005)
Bioinformatics 21, 2246-2253
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Using an RNA secondary structure partition function to determine confidence in base pairs predicted by free energy minimization.
D. H. MATHEWS (2004)
RNA 10, 1178-1190
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Aptamer Database.
J. F. Lee, J. R. Hesselberth, L. A. Meyers, and A. D. Ellington (2004)
Nucleic Acids Res. 32, D95-100
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolution of aptamers with a new specificity and new secondary structures from an ATP aptamer.
Z. HUANG and J. W. SZOSTAK (2003)
RNA 9, 1456-1463
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Exploring the repertoire of RNA secondary motifs using graph theory; implications for RNA design.
H. H. Gan, S. Pasquali, and T. Schlick (2003)
Nucleic Acids Res. 31, 2926-2943
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The enigma of the origin of life and its timing.
M. A. Line (2002)
Microbiology 148, 21-27
   Full Text »    PDF »


ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)