An RNA polymerase ribozyme that synthesizes its own ancestor.

ABSTRACT: The RNA-based organisms from which modern life is thought to have descended would have depended on an RNA polymerase ribozyme to copy functional RNA molecules, including copying the polymerase itself. Such a polymerase must have been capable of copying structured RNAs with high efficiency and high fidelity to maintain genetic information across successive generations. Here the class I RNA polymerase ribozyme was evolved in vitro for the ability to synthesize functional ribozymes, resulting in the markedly improved ability to synthesize complex RNAs using nucleoside 5'-triphosphate (NTP) substrates. The polymerase is descended from the class I ligase, which contains the same catalytic core as the polymerase. The class I ligase can be synthesized by the improved polymerase as three separate

SUBMITTER: Tjhung KF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7022166 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature