J. Tomizawa investigated how RNA interactions regulate DNA replication in the Colicin E1 plasmid. A 1984 study showed that ColE1 RNA I binds the potential RNA primer transcript ColE1 RNA II. This binding interferes with the RNA–DNA association needed for primer formation, thereby inhibiting the start of DNA replication.[ref]
Control of ColE1 plasmid replication: the process of binding of RNA I to the primer transcript by J. Tomizawa. Abstract: primer-transcript hybridization, processing and inhibition by RNA I; Cell 38, 861–870, 1984
The experiments went beyond observing inhibition. Identifying the RNA-binding product and analyzing its sensitivity to cleavage gave evidence about which regions paired. Removing five nucleotides from one end of ColE1 RNA I greatly reduced its binding activity. This links a defined molecular alteration to a measurable change in regulation, illustrating that RNA can control a process by binding another RNA, without first being translated into a regulatory protein.[ref]
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