Heisenberg Research Group Ribogenetics, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
RNA. 2012 May;18(5):871-85. doi: 10.1261/rna.031401.111. Epub 2012 Mar 27.
The hammerhead ribozyme is a small catalytic RNA motif capable of endonucleolytic (self-) cleavage. It is composed of a catalytic core of conserved nucleotides flanked by three helices, two of which form essential tertiary interactions for fast self-scission under physiological conditions. Originally discovered in subviral plant pathogens, its presence in several eukaryotic genomes has been reported since. More recently, this catalytic RNA motif has been shown to reside in a large number of genomes. We review the different approaches in discovering these new hammerhead ribozyme sequences and discuss possible biological functions of the genomic motifs.
锤头核酶是一种能够进行核酸内切(自我)切割的小催化 RNA 基序。它由一个保守核苷酸的催化核心组成,两侧有三个螺旋,其中两个螺旋形成重要的三级相互作用,以使它在生理条件下快速自我切割。最初在亚病毒植物病原体中发现,此后在几个真核基因组中也有报道。最近,这种催化 RNA 基序已被证明存在于大量基因组中。我们综述了发现这些新锤头核酶序列的不同方法,并讨论了基因组基序的可能生物学功能。