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Nonenzymatic RNA ligation in water.

ABSTRACT: We describe the nonenzymatic ligation of RNA oligomers in water. Dimers and tetramers are formed in a time-, pH-, and temperature-dependent reaction. Ligation efficiency depends on oligonucleotide length and sequence and is strongly enhanced by adenine-based nucleotide cofactors. Ligation of short RNA fragments could have liberated the prebiotic polymerization systems from the thermodynamically demanding task of reaching a (pre)genetically meaningful size by stepwise addition of one precursor monomer at the time.

SUBMITTER: Pino S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2662306 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Nonenzymatic RNA ligation in water.

Pino Samanta S Ciciriello Fabiana F Costanzo Giovanna G Di Mauro Ernesto E

The Journal of biological chemistry 20081031 52

We describe the nonenzymatic ligation of RNA oligomers in water. Dimers and tetramers are formed in a time-, pH-, and temperature-dependent reaction. Ligation efficiency depends on oligonucleotide length and sequence and is strongly enhanced by adenine-based nucleotide cofactors. Ligation of short RNA fragments could have liberated the prebiotic polymerization systems from the thermodynamically demanding task of reaching a (pre)genetically meaningful size by stepwise addition of one precursor mo ...[more]

PMID: 18977755

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