Clark C G
Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021-6399.
J Mol Evol. 1987;25(4):343-50. doi: 10.1007/BF02603119.
Despite the availability of a rapidly growing ribosomal RNA database that now includes organisms in all three primary lines of descent (eubacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes), theoretical treatment of the evolution of the ribosomal RNAs has lagged behind that of the protein genes. In this paper a theory is developed that applies current views of protein gene evolution to the ribosomal RNAs. The major topics addressed are the variability in size, gene arrangement, and processing of the rRNAs among the three primary lines of descent. Among the conclusions are that the rRNAs of eukaryotes retain some primitive features that were probably present in the rRNAs of the earliest cell (the progenote) and that the genes coding for the three major rRNA species were probably originally unlinked.
尽管核糖体RNA数据库正在迅速增长，目前已涵盖了所有三个主要进化谱系（真细菌、古细菌和真核生物）中的生物，但核糖体RNA进化的理论研究仍落后于蛋白质基因。本文提出了一种理论，将当前蛋白质基因进化的观点应用于核糖体RNA。所讨论的主要主题是三个主要进化谱系中rRNA在大小、基因排列和加工方面的变异性。得出的结论包括：真核生物的rRNA保留了一些可能存在于最早细胞（原祖细胞）的rRNA中的原始特征，并且编码三种主要rRNA种类的基因最初可能是不相连的。
