An expanding number of metabolite-binding riboswitch classes are being discovered in the
noncoding portions of bacterial genomes. Findings over the last decade indicate that …

Since the initial discovery of ribozymes in the early 1980s, catalytic nucleic acids have been
used in different areas. Compared with protein enzymes, catalytic nucleic acids are …

Evolve and resequence (E&R) experiments use experimental evolution to adapt populations
to a novel environment, then next-generation sequencing to analyse genetic changes. They …

Ribozymes are noncoding RNAs that promote chemical transformations with rate
enhancements approaching those of protein enzymes. Although ribozymes are likely to …

Enzymes made of RNA catalyze reactions that are essential for protein synthesis and RNA
processing. However, such natural ribozymes are exceedingly rare, as evidenced by the fact …

The origin story and emergence of molecular biology is muddled. The early triumphs in
bacterial genetics and the complexity of animal and plant genomes complicate an intricate …

Self-cleaving ribozymes were discovered 30 years ago, but their biological distribution and
catalytic mechanisms are only beginning to be defined. Each ribozyme family is defined by a …

Small endonucleolytic ribozymes promote the self-cleavage of their own phosphodiester
backbone at a specific linkage. The structures of and the reactions catalysed by members of …

The ubiquitous presence of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in eukaryotes points to the
importance of understanding how their sequences impact function. As many lncRNAs …

DNA phosphoester bonds are exceedingly resistant to hydrolysis in the absence of chemical
or enzymatic catalysts. This property is particularly important for organisms with large …