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Definition
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is one of two principal types of nucleic acid found in all cellular life. RNA consists of a polymer of ribonucleoside phosphates, each unit of which, in turn, is comprised of a pyrimidine base or purine base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate. RNAs encode genetic information (e.g., RNA viruses), serve as intermediates in gene transcription (e.g., mRNA), and also play structural, regulatory, and catalytic (e.g., ribosome) roles in cellular biology.
Overview
Central Dogma of Molecular Biology
Francis Crick proposed a simple scheme, shown below, that he entitled “The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology” to serve as a unifying axiom for the emerging field of molecular biology: \( \mathrm{D}\mathrm{N}\mathrm{A}\to \mathrm{R}\mathrm{N}\mathrm{A}\to \mathrm{Protein} \), i.e., “DNA makes RNA makes Protein.” Information flow was held to be from left to right only, with DNA encoding genetic information, proteins as gene products serving...
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References and Further Reading
Bartel DP, Szostak JW (1993) Isolation of new ribozymes from a large pool of random sequences. Science 261:1411
Crick FHC (1968) The origin of the genetic code. J Mol Biol 38:367–369
Gilbert W (1986) Origin of life, the RNA world. Nature 319:618
Johnston WK, Unrau PJ, Lawrence MS, Glasner ME, Bartel DP (2001) RNA-catalyzed RNA- polymerization: accurate and general RNA-templated primer extension. Science 292:1319
Orgel LE (1968) Evolution of the genetic apparatus. J Mol Biol 38:381
Robertson MP, Scott WG (2007) The structural basis of ribozyme-catalyzed RNA assembly. Science 315:1549
Rogers J, Joyce GF (2001) The effect of cytidine on the structure and function of an RNA ligase ribozyme. RNA 7:395
Woese C (1967) The genetic code: the molecular basis for genetic expression. Harper & Row, New York, pp 179–195
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Scott, W.G. (2015). RNA. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1749
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1749
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