Resurrection of primordial RNA polymerase by in vitro evolution experiments

Research Project

Project/Area Number	16K14793
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Evolutionary biology
Research Institution	Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
Principal Investigator	Tagami Shunsuke 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, ライフサイエンス技術基盤研究センター, ユニットリーダー (40586939)
Project Period (FY)	2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000)
Keywords	生命進化 / 構造生物学 / RNAポリメラーゼ / 分子進化 / 生命の起源
Outline of Final Research Achievements	How life emerged on the primordial earth is one of the most important questions in biology. Of special interest is the emergence of gene expression system where different molecular species (DNA, RNA and protein) are interdependently synthesized and controlled. In its evolutionary process RNA polymerase probably played a pivotal role. However, the detailed path how it evolved into such a giant molecule (molecular weight ~300,000) is unclear. It is impossible for such huge molecules to have emerged all of a sudden at a certain point of the history of life. Therefore, RNA polymerase must have been gradually evolved from a simpler protein by acquiring ancillary parts through its long evolutional history. Here, we performed experimental trials for resurrection of the catalytic core of a primordial RNA polymerase by using structural and synthetic biology techniques.