RNA-katalysierte Synthese von DNA (A08)

• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 521256690

Natural ribozymes catalyze phosphodiester transformations, but are not able to copy RNA or DNA, while in vitro molecular evolution resulted in RNA-dependent RNA polymerases ribozymes that can copy part of themselves or their ancestors. The evolution of DNA as genetic material also requires copying information from RNA to DNA and possibly cases vice versa. The goal of this project is to find small ribozymes that catalyze template-dependent ligation and polymerization of (deoxy)nucleotides using plausible activated building blocks and/or cofactors. We aim at ribozymes that use RNA as template to write DNA under prebiotic conditions inspired and compatible with other projects in the CRC.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 392: Molecular evolution in prebiotic environments
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Claudia Höbartner, since 1/2024