Reaction | Characteristics of the ribozyme | References |
---|---|---|
Aminoacyl adenylate synthesis | Low efficiency formation of leucyl and phenylalanyl adenylates observed with a 114-nucleotide ribozyme. | [132] |
Self-aminoacylation | Self-aminoacylation of a 43-nulceotide ribozyme with phenylalanine using phe-AMP as the substrate. A 77-nucleotide RNA catalyzed the same reaction with a specificity and aminoacylatin rate greater that those of PheRS. | [51, 146] |
RNA 3'-aminoacylation In-trans | The smallest ribozyme capable of non-specific tRNA aminoacylation consists of 29 nucleotides. A 45-nucleotide ribozyme has been obtained with a broad spectrum of activity toward diverse tRNAs and amino acids. Larger ribozymes with highly specific and efficient aminoacylation activity reported. | [51, 147, 148] |
In vitro selected peptidyltransferase ribozymes | Several ribozymes selected to form dipeptides from an amino acid esterified to AMP or a oligonucleotide and a free amino acid. Structural similarity observed between peptidyltransferase sibozymes and the relevant portion of 23S rRNA. Formation of Phe-Phe-tRNA reported for the 29-nucleotide aminoacylating ribozyme. | [128, 129, 149, 150] |
Ribosomal peptidyltransferase | In the ribosomal large subunits, the peptidyltransferase center maps to an are containing only RNA, leading to the conclusion that the reaction is catalyzed by a ribozyme; however, identification of the active residues remains elusive. | [151–154] |
Ribonucleotide polymerization | Ribozymes capable of extending a pre-annealed RNA primer by 10–14 nucleotides selected from a pool of RNA ligase ribozymes | [53, 54] |