The RNA World

Contents: I. THE ORIGINS OF RNA AND RNA AT THE ORIGIN: 1. Setting the Stage. 2. The History, Chemistry, and Geobiology behind RNA. 3. Progress toward Understanding the Origin of the RNA World. 4. Protocells: Genetic Polymers Inside Membrane Vesicles. II. BUILDING A FUNCTIONAL RNA: 1. Riboswitches and the RNA World. 2. Catalytic Strategies of Self–cleaving Ribozymes: Relics of an RNA World. 3. How the Group I Intron Works: A Case Study of RNA Structure and Function. III. EXITING THE ANCIENT RNA WORLD – SYNTHETASES AND RIBOSOMES: 1. RNA, Lipids, and Membranes. 2. Aminoacyl tRNA Synthetases: From the RNA World to the Theater of Proteins. 3. The Roles of RNA in the Synthesis of Protein. 4. Evolution of Ribosomes and Translation from an RNA World. IV. RICHNESS OF RNA ROLES IN MODERN RNA WORLD: 1. The RNA World. 2. The Ever–Growing World of Small Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins. 3. Spliceosome Structure and Function. 4. Urdine Insertion/Deletion RNA Editing as a Paradigm for Site - specific Modifications of RNA Molecules. 5. Telomerase RNA. 6. The Shapely mRNA: Knotting Ventured, Knotting Gained. V. RNA CONTINUES TO TRIUMPH OVER DNA: 1. Group II Introns: Ribozymes that Splice RNA and Invade DNA. 2. SINEs and LINEs: Troublemakers, Saboteurs, Benefactors, Ancestors. 3. The Biology of Short RNAs. 4. Versatile Roles of Small RNA Regulators in Bacteria. 5. Large Noncoding RNAs in Mammalian Gene Dosage Regulation. VI. EMERGING TOOLS: 1. Predicting RNA Secondary Structure. 2. A Modular and Hierarchical Approach for All - Atom RNA Modeling. 3. Automated In Vitro Selection and Microarray Applications for Functional RNA Sequences. 4. RNA Folding, Unfolding, and Dynamics, One Molecule at a Time.

"Recent studies on the activities of RNA in the cell have revolutionized our understanding of the many roles played by this molecule. The first two editions of The RNA World (1993, 1999) shed light on the pre–biotic era dominated by this versatile molecule, and provided an overview of the state of RNA research at the time. The new third edition of The RNA World updates this perspective, describing the vast array of newly discovered roles for RNA in the modern world. The updated original chapters are supplemented with new chapters on RNA–protein complexes, snRNPs and snoRNPs, telomerase RNA, RNAi, microRNAs, noncoding RNA, and many other subjects. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the biology of nucleic acids and gene regulation and a valuable resource for teaching these concepts."