| Manganese dependent ribozyme in Vg1 mRNA | |
| Symbol: | VG1 |
| Rfam: | RF01865 |
| Rna Type: | Ribozyme |
| Tax Domain: | Xenopus |
The Vg1 ribozyme is a manganese dependent RNA enzyme or ribozyme which is the smallest ribozyme to be identified. It was identified in the 3′ UTR of Xenopus Vg1 mRNA transcripts and mouse beta-actin mRNA.[1] This ribozyme was identified from in vitro studies that showed that the Vg1 mRNA was cleaved within the 3′ UTR in the absence of protein. Studying the Vg1 mRNA 3′UTR a manganese-dependent ribozyme was predicted to exist. This ribozyme was shown to be located adjacent to the polyadenylation site and in vitro studies showed that it catalyzes a first-order reaction where its mechanism of cleavage is similar to the manganese ribozyme present in Tetrahymena group I introns.[2]
In vivo studies showed that this ribozyme is not functional with the cell.