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A hierarchical model for evolution of 23S ribosomal RNA

Nature volume 457, pages 977–980 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The emergence of the ribosome constituted a pivotal step in the evolution of life. This event happened nearly four billion years ago, and any traces of early stages of ribosome evolution are generally thought to have completely eroded away. Surprisingly, a detailed analysis of the structure of the modern ribosome reveals a concerted and modular scheme of its early evolution.

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Figure 1: Location of inter-domain A-minor interactions in the secondary structure of the E. coli 23S rRNA.
Figure 2: The location of the identified elements in the E. coli 23S rRNA secondary structure (a) and the network of D1 and D2 dependencies between them (b).
Figure 3: The aggrandizement of the 23S rRNA structure during its evolution.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Brakier-Gingras, A. Mankin, S. Michnick and I. Ponomarenko for advice and comments. This work was supported by a grant from NSERC.

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  1. Département de Biochimie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H3C 3J7 (Québec), Canada,

    Konstantin Bokov & Sergey V. Steinberg

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  1. Konstantin Bokov
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  2. Sergey V. Steinberg
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Correspondence to Sergey V. Steinberg.

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Bokov, K., Steinberg, S. A hierarchical model for evolution of 23S ribosomal RNA. Nature 457, 977–980 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07749

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