A High-Throughput Computational Pipeline that Identifies Active, Small Self-Cleaving Ribozymes Riddled with Imperfections

Twister, twister sister, and hammerhead are small self-cleaving ribozymes that cleave their phosphodiester backbone and are defined by unique structures. By combining multiple RNA computational tools with customized scripts, I created a pipeline capable of searching through numerous genomes for these three ribozymes simultaneously. We identified over 800 novel ribozyme candidates in over 50 organisms. From these, we experimentally tested our top candidates and confirmed the first active twister ribozyme in a mammal, the dolphin.