ArticleeLife2018
Crystallographic observation of nonenzymatic RNA primer extension.
Article in eLife, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- MgJournal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- Impact of 2'-deoxyribo-purine substrates on nonenzymatic RNA template-directed primer extension.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Nonenzymatic RNA copying with a potentially primordial genetic alphabet.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Overcoming nucleotide bias in the nonenzymatic copying of RNA templates.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Simulations predict preferred MgBiophysical journal · 2024Article
- Catalytic Metal Ion-Substrate Coordination during Nonenzymatic RNA Primer Extension.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2024Article
- Insight into the structures of unusual base pairs in RNA complexes containing a primer/template/adenosine ligand.RSC chemical biology · 2023Article
- Thermodynamics and kinetics of DNA and RNA dinucleotide hybridization to gaps and overhangs.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- Enhanced nonenzymatic RNA copying with in-situ activation of short oligonucleotides.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Direct monitoring of the thermodynamics and kinetics of DNA and RNA dinucleotide dehybridization from gaps and overhangs.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Kinetic explanations for the sequence biases observed in the nonenzymatic copying of RNA templates.Nucleic acids research · 2022Article
- Following replicative DNA synthesis by time-resolved X-ray crystallography.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Competition between bridged dinucleotides and activated mononucleotides determines the error frequency of nonenzymatic RNA primer extension.Nucleic acids research · 2021Article
- Structural interpretation of the effects of threo-nucleotides on nonenzymatic template-directed polymerization.Nucleic acids research · 2021Article
- The virtual circular genome model for primordial RNA replication.RNA (New York, N.Y.) · 2021Article
- Potentially Prebiotic Activation Chemistry Compatible with Nonenzymatic RNA Copying.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2020Article
- Template-Directed Copying of RNA by Non-enzymatic Ligation.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2020Article
- Deep sequencing of non-enzymatic RNA primer extension.Nucleic acids research · 2020Article
- A Model for the Emergence of RNA from a Prebiotically Plausible Mixture of Ribonucleotides, Arabinonucleotides, and 2'-Deoxynucleotides.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2020Article
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Abstract
The importance of genome replication has inspired detailed crystallographic studies of enzymatic DNA/RNA polymerization. In contrast, the mechanism of nonenzymatic polymerization is less well understood, despite its critical role in the origin of life. Here we report the direct observation of nonenzymatic RNA primer extension through time-resolved crystallography. We soaked crystals of an RNA primer-template-dGMP complex with guanosine-5'-phosphoro-2-aminoimidazolide for increasing times. At early times we see the activated ribonucleotides bound to the template, followed by formation of the imidazolium-bridged dinucleotide intermediate. At later times, we see a new phosphodiester bond forming between the primer and the incoming nucleotide. The intermediate is pre-organized because of the constraints of base-pairing with the template and hydrogen bonding between the imidazole amino group and both flanking phosphates. Our results provide atomic-resolution insight into the mechanism of nonenzymatic primer extension, and set the stage for further structural dissection and optimization of the RNA copying process.
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