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The crystal structure of a molecule from a primitive fungus has served as a time machine to show researchers more about the evolution of life from the simple to the complex.
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A team led by Purdue structural biologist Barbara Golden crystallized a fungus molecule that has allowed researchers to visualize a stage of evolution. (Photo by Tom Campbell) |
By studying the three-dimensional version of the fungus protein bound to an RNA molecule, scientists from Purdue University and the University of Texas at Austin have been able to visualize how life progressed from an early self-replicating molecule that also performed chemical reactions to one in which proteins assumed some of the work.
The research shows how RNA progressed. “It’s thought that RNA, or a molecule like it, may have been among the first molecules of life, both carrying genetic code that can be transmitted from generation to generation and folding into structures so these molecules could work inside cells,” says Purdue structural biologist Barbara Golden. “At some point, RNA evolved and became capable of making proteins. Then, proteins started taking over roles that RNA played previously—acting as catalysts and building structures in cells.”
In order to show this and learn more about the evolution from RNA to more complex life forms, researchers needed to be able to see how the fungus protein worked. “Obviously, we can’t see the move from RNA to RNA and proteins and then to DNA, without a time machine,” Golden says. “But by using this fungus protein, we can see this process occurring in modern life.”
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