©2004 Nature Publishing Group
The GlmS enzyme, which is involved in GlcN6P synthesis, is translated from mRNA containing a ribozyme sequence. GlcN6P activates the ribozyme cleaving the mRNA sequence and turning enzyme production off. (Redrawn from T.R. Cech,
Coming from various directions, a number of research groups stumbled upon a naturally occurring mechanism for gene control that depends solely on RNA and environmental cues. Though the working details for this largely prokaryotic device are just now being revealed, so called riboswitches have thus far intrigued and impressed. "It's a completely new, unsuspected way of controlling gene expression," says David Lilley, professor of molecular biology, University of Dundee, Scotland
With implications and applications for basic research and therapeutics, riboswitches may represent another chisel chipping away at the now crumbling notion of RNA as an intermediary between gene and protein. While some disagree as to whether these are RNA-world ...
