期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1975
卷号：72
期号：11
页码：4252-4256
DOI：10.1073/pnas.72.11.4252
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Microvariant RNA, a small self-replicating molecule (114 nucleotides long), has been isolated from Qbeta replicase reactions incubated in the absence of exogenous template. Its complete nucleotide sequence has been determined. Comparison with MDV-1 RNA, a somewhat larger endogenous Qbeta replicase product (220 nucleotides long) that had previously been characterized, revealed no significant sequence similarity. Since Qbeta replicase can mediate the synthesis of both of these disparate RNA molecules, primary sequence cannot be the sole determining factor in the processes of enzyme recognition and replication. This implies that the key is to be found in the secondary or tertiary structures. The availability of two different replicating molecules of defined sequence should aid in identifying these critical structural features.
