Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T17:45:23.612Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experimental evolution of complexity: In vitro emergence of intermolecular ribozyme interactions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1998

MARTIN M. HANCZYC  and
ROBERT L. DORIT
MARTIN M. HANCZYC
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA
ROBERT L. DORIT
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA
Get access

Abstract

In the course of evolving variants of the Tetrahymena thermophila Group I ribozyme for improved DNA cleavage in vitro, we witnessed the unexpected emergence of a derived molecular species, capable of acting as a partner for the ribozyme, but no longer autocatalytic. This new RNA species exhibits a deletion in the catalytic core and participates in a productive intermolecular interaction with an active ribozyme, thus insuring its survival in the population. These novel RNA molecules have evolved a precise catalytic interaction with the Group I ribozyme and depend for their survival on the continued presence of active catalysts. This interaction hints at the complexity that may inevitably arise even in simple evolving systems.

Keywords

catalytic RNAin vitro selectionnucleic acidsself-organization
Type
Research Article
Information
RNA , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , March 1998 , pp. 268 - 275
Copyright
© 1998 RNA Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)