{"213621":{"#nid":"213621","#data":{"type":"news","title":"RNA Was Capable of Catalyzing Electron Transfer on Early Earth with Iron\u2019s Help, Study Shows","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth. Because electron transfer, the moving of an electron from one chemical species to another, is involved in many biological processes \u2013 including photosynthesis, respiration and the reduction of RNA to DNA \u2013 the study\u2019s findings suggest that complex biochemical transformations may have been possible when life began.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is considerable evidence that the evolution of life passed through an early stage when RNA played a more central role, before DNA and coded proteins appeared. During that time, more than 3 billion years ago, the environment lacked oxygen but had an abundance of soluble iron.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur study shows that when RNA teams up with iron in an oxygen-free environment, RNA displays the powerful ability to catalyze single electron transfer, a process involved in the most sophisticated biochemistry, yet previously uncharacterized for RNA,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ww2.chemistry.gatech.edu\/~williams\/\u0022\u003ELoren Williams\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe results of the study were published online on May 19, 2013, in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Chemistry\u003C\/em\u003E. The study was sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, which established the Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution (Ribo Evo) at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFree oxygen gas was almost nonexistent in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere more than 3 billion years ago. When free oxygen began entering the environment as a product of photosynthesis, it turned the earth\u2019s iron to rust, forming massive banded iron formations that are still mined today. The free oxygen produced by advanced organisms caused iron to be toxic, even though it was \u2013 and still is \u2013 a requirement for life. Williams believes the environmental transition caused a slow shift from the use of iron to magnesium for RNA binding, folding and catalysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWilliams and Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry postdoctoral fellow Chiaolong Hsiao used a standard peroxidase assay to detect electron transfer in solutions of RNA and either the iron ion, Fe2+, or magnesium ion, Mg2+. For 10 different types of RNA, the researchers observed catalysis of single electron transfer in the presence of iron and absence of oxygen. They found that two of the most abundant and ancient types of RNA, the 23S ribosomal RNA and transfer RNA, catalyzed electron transfer more efficiently than other types of RNA. However, none of the RNA and magnesium solutions catalyzed single electron transfer in the oxygen-free environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur findings suggest that the catalytic competence of RNA may have been greater in early Earth conditions than in present conditions, and our experiments may have revived a latent function of RNA,\u201d added Williams, who is also director of the Ribo Evo Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis new study expands on research published in May 2012 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPLoS ONE\u003C\/em\u003E. In the previous work, Williams led a team that used experiments and numerical calculations to show that iron, in the absence of oxygen, could substitute for magnesium in RNA binding, folding and catalysis. The researchers found that RNA\u2019s shape and folding structure remained the same and its functional activity increased when magnesium was replaced by iron in an oxygen-free environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn future studies, the researchers plan to investigate whether other unique functions may have been conferred on RNA through interaction with a variety of metals available on the early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Williams and Hsiao, Georgia Tech School of Biology professors Roger Wartell and Stephen Harvey, and Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry professor Nicholas Hud, also contributed to this work as co-principal investigators in the Ribo Evo Center at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by NASA (Award No. NNA09DA78A). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of NASA.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Chiaolong Hsiao, et al., \u201cRNA with iron(II) as a cofactor catalyses electron transfer,\u201d (Nature Chemistry, 2013). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nchem.1649\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nchem.1649\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth. The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-05-19 13:46:04","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:16","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-05-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-05-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"213601":{"id":"213601","type":"image","title":"RNA Catalysis","body":null,"created":"1449180076","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:16","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"RNA Catalysis","file":{"fid":"196996","name":"electron-transfer72.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/electron-transfer72_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/electron-transfer72_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1618860,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/electron-transfer72_0.jpg?itok=hGet3OTF"}},"213611":{"id":"213611","type":"image","title":"RNA Catalysis2","body":null,"created":"1449180076","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:16","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"RNA Catalysis2","file":{"fid":"196997","name":"electron-transfer117.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/electron-transfer117_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/electron-transfer117_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1453417,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/electron-transfer117_0.jpg?itok=cZef8NLk"}}},"media_ids":["213601","213611"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2507","name":"catalysis"},{"id":"12661","name":"Early Earth"},{"id":"66501","name":"electron transfer"},{"id":"3028","name":"evolution"},{"id":"10720","name":"Loren Williams"},{"id":"984","name":"RNA"},{"id":"166928","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}