Abstract
A variety of small RNAs ranging from tens to hundreds of nucieo-tides in length grow autocatalytically in a Qβ replicase (Qβ phage RNA-dependent RNA polymerase) reaction in the absence of added template, and similar RNAs are found in Qβ phage-infected Escherichia coli cellsl–4. Three such RNAs have been sequenced5–7. One of them that is 221 nucleotides (nt) long ('MDV-1' RNA) has been found to be partially homologous to Qβ phage RNA8, which might be considered as an indication of its origination from by-products of the Qβ RNA replication. To gain further insight into the origin and function of these RNAs, we have sequenced a new RNA, 120 nt long, isolated from the products of spontaneous synthesis by the nominally RNA-free Qβ replicase preparation. The minus strand of this RNA appeared to be a recombinant RNA, composed of the internal fragment of Qβ RNA (∼80 nt long) and the 33-nt-long 3′-terminal fragment of E. coli tRNA1ASP. This seems to be the first strong indication of RNA recombination in bacterial cells. The various implications of this finding are discussed.
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Munishkin, A., Voronin, L. & Chetverin, A. An in vivo recombinant RNA capable of autocatalytic synthesis by Qβ replicase. Nature 333, 473–475 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333473a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/333473a0
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