ArticleeLife2016
Nonenzymatic copying of RNA templates containing all four letters is catalyzed by activated oligonucleotides.
Article in eLife, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers.
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Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed.
- Prebiotically Plausible Synthesis of N-Cyanoimidazole for Phosphate Activation and Templated RNA Ligation.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- The master molecule that built biology: How water shaped the chemistry of life.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2026Review
- Sequence patterns in RNA replication via the virtual circular genome mechanism.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Complex and Messy Prebiotic Chemistry: Obstacles and Opportunities for an RNA World.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
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- Nonenzymatic Primer Extension Experiments in the Presence of Coacervates.Current protocols · 2025Article
- Roles of dimeric intermediates in RNA-catalyzed rolling circle synthesis.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Intellectual frameworks to understand complex biochemical systems at the origin of life.Nature chemistry · 2025Article
- Overcoming nucleotide bias in the nonenzymatic copying of RNA templates.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Template-based copying in chemically fuelled dynamic combinatorial libraries.Nature chemistry · 2024Article
- Prebiotic synthesis of dihydrouridine by photoreduction of uridine in formamide.Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Simulations predict preferred MgBiophysical journal · 2024Article
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- High-Fidelity RNA Copying via 2',3'-Cyclic Phosphate Ligation.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2024Article
- RNA-catalyzed evolution of catalytic RNA.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Natural soda lakes provide compatible conditions for RNA and membrane function that could have enabled the origin of life.PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Three Biopolymers and Origin of Life Scenarios.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Unusual Base Pair between Two 2-Thiouridines and Its Implication for Nonenzymatic RNA Copying.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2024Article
- Towards a prebiotic chemoton - nucleotide precursor synthesis driven by the autocatalytic formose reaction.Chemical science · 2023Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The nonenzymatic replication of RNA is a potential transitional stage between the prebiotic chemistry of nucleotide synthesis and the canonical RNA world in which RNA enzymes (ribozymes) catalyze replication of the RNA genomes of primordial cells. However, the plausibility of nonenzymatic RNA replication is undercut by the lack of a protocell-compatible chemical system capable of copying RNA templates containing all four nucleotides. We show that short 5'-activated oligonucleotides act as catalysts that accelerate primer extension, and allow for the one-pot copying of mixed sequence RNA templates. The fidelity of the primer extension products resulting from the sequential addition of activated monomers, when catalyzed by activated oligomers, is sufficient to sustain a genome long enough to encode active ribozymes. Finally, by immobilizing the primer and template on a bead and adding individual monomers in sequence, we synthesize a significant part of an active hammerhead ribozyme, forging a link between nonenzymatic polymerization and the RNA world.
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