H. Wank et al., The antibiotic viomycin as a model peptide for the origin of the co-evolution of RNA and proteins, ORIGIN LIFE, 29(4), 1999, pp. 391-404
Viomycin is an RNA-binding peptide antibiotic which inhibits prokaryotic pr
otein synthesis and group I intron self-splicing. This antibiotic enhances
the activity of the ribozyme derived from the Neurospora crassa VS RNA, and
at sub-inhibitory concentrations it induces the formation of group I intro
n oligomers. Here, we address the question whether viomycin exerts specific
ity in the promotion of RNA-RNA interactions. In an in vitro selection expe
riment we tested the ability of viomycin to specifically select molecules o
ut of an RNA pool. Group I intron RNA was incubated with a pool of random s
equence RNA, or with a pool of RNA molecules which had previously been enri
ched for viomycin-binding RNAs. Viomycin was added in order to select viomy
cin-binding RNAs and to guide their interaction with the intron RNA resulti
ng in recombinant molecules. Viomycin was indeed capable of specifically se
lecting RNA molecules which contain viomycin-binding sites promoting recomb
ination. These results suggest that small peptides are able to play the rol
e of selector molecules in a putative 'RNA World' launching the co-evolutio
n of RNA and proteins into an 'RNA-protein World'.