ribozymes in repair of RNA and DNA

Ribozyme-mediated revision of RNA and DNA -- Long et al. 112 (3): 312 -- Journal of Clinical Investigation: "Several classes of catalytic RNAs, or ribozymes, have the capacity to revise genetic information. Group I and Group II ribozymes are derived from naturally occurring Group I and Group II introns, respectively. These introns are found in the genes of a variety of lower eukaryotes and prokaryotes. They differ fundamentally from spliceosomal introns since Group I and Group II introns self-splice from the precursor RNA independent of the spliceosome. The intron adopts the catalytic structure that is capable of cleaving RNA splice sites and ligating the flanking exons together. In addition to self-splicing from RNA precursors, some Group II introns are able to reverse-splice into DNA. The splicing activity of these introns can be harnessed as a molecular tool that may potentially revise any gene of interest."

BIO.COM: Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical News, Jobs, Software, Reports, Books, Events: "Hairpin ribozyme . . . minimal RNA enzyme was discovered by botanists in plants infected by tobacco ring spot virus and a number of other viruses. It is what is known as plant satellite RNA.Satellite RNAs are parasitic pieces of RNA that are not exactly viruses because they don't encode for proteins. Instead, they catalyze simple cut-and-paste reactions in order to replicate themselves, exacerbating or ameliorating diseases caused by plant viruses. A plant that has tobacco ring spot virus, for instance, will be more diseased if it also has this satellite RNA. "