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Updated: May 22, 2026

Isolation of Cognate RNA-protein Complexes from Cells Using Oligonucleotide-directed Elution
Published on: January 16, 2017
RNase P branches out from RNP to protein: organelle-triggered diversification?
Katherine C Goldfarb1, Sumit Borah, Thomas R Cech
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado Biofrontiers Institute, Boulder Colorado 80309, USA.
Abstract:
RNase P is the enzyme that removes 5' leader sequences from precursor tRNAs. Remarkably, in most organisms, RNase P is a ribonucleoprotein particle where the RNA component is responsible for catalysis. In this issue of Genes & Development, Gutmann and colleagues (pp. 1022-1027) report the first organism, Arabidopsis thaliana, to employ protein-only RNase P in both its nucleus and organelles. An intriguing possibility is that replacement of RNase P ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs) by proteins may have been triggered by the acquisition of organelles.
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