ArticleeLife2021
tRNA sequences can assemble into a replicator.
Article in eLife, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Emerging roles of transfer RNA fragments in the CNS.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2025Review
- Experimental Tests of the Virtual Circular Genome Model for Nonenzymatic RNA Replication.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2023Article
- Prebiotic Foam Environments to Oligomerize and Accumulate RNA.Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology · 2022Article
- Evolutionary Adjustment of tRNA Identity Rules in Bacillariophyta for Recognition by an Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetase Adds a Facet to the Origin of Diatoms.Journal of molecular evolution · 2022Article
- Origins and evolving functionalities of tRNA-derived small RNAs.Trends in biochemical sciences · 2021Review
- Transfer RNA and Origins of RNA Interference.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Can replication and translation emerge in a single mechanism via self-assembly? The key molecule, transfer RNA (tRNA), is one of the most ancient molecules and contains the genetic code. Our experiments show how a pool of oligonucleotides, adapted with minor mutations from tRNA, spontaneously formed molecular assemblies and replicated information autonomously using only reversible hybridization under thermal oscillations. The pool of cross-complementary hairpins self-selected by agglomeration and sedimentation. The metastable DNA hairpins bound to a template and then interconnected by hybridization. Thermal oscillations separated replicates from their templates and drove an exponential, cross-catalytic replication. The molecular assembly could encode and replicate binary sequences with a replication fidelity corresponding to 85-90 % per nucleotide. The replication by a self-assembly of tRNA-like sequences suggests that early forms of tRNA could have been involved in molecular replication. This would link the evolution of translation to a mechanism of molecular replication.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.