Examples of ribozyme in the following topics:
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- The polymerization of nucleotides into random RNA molecules might have resulted in self-replicating ribozymes (RNA world hypothesis).
- Selection pressures for catalytic efficiency and diversity might have resulted in ribozymes which catalyse peptidyl transfer (hence formation of small proteins), since oligopeptides complex with RNA to form better catalysts.
- Synthesized proteins might then out-compete ribozymes in catalytic ability, therefore becoming the dominant biopolymer, relegating nucleic acids to their modern use as a carrier of genomic information.
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- Some viroids are ribozymes, having catalytic properties which allow self-cleavage and ligation of unit-size genomes from larger replication intermediates.
- The negative RNA strands are then cleaved by ribozyme activity and circularizes.
- A second rolling circle mechanism forms a positive strand which is also cleaved by ribozyme activity and then ligated to become circular.
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- The ability to function as a ribozyme and cleave itself if a sufficient concentration of its metabolite is present
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- This is normally a protein, although may also be RNA, such as tRNA or a ribozyme.
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- This common structure may reflect a common evolutionary origin as part of ribozymes in an ancient RNA world.
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- The process of making proteins is called translation and involves the step-by-step addition of amino acids to a growing protein chain by a ribozyme that is called a ribosome.
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- A few RNA molecules called ribozymes also catalyze reactions, with an important example being some parts of the ribosome.