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. 2012 Jan 23;7(1):e29952. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029952

Figure 1. Usage of RNA-adapters.

Figure 1

The conformation of RNA-molecules can be guided by the anti-sense binding of RNA-adapters (hairpin). By having an adapter, two distinct structures can be transcribed from the same sequence. Both foldings are regarded as functional and provide fitness for a protocell if matching a target-structure. Adapter change in base-pair configuration is shown by giving corresponding colors to the nucleotides in the formed base-pairs of the primary folding. In this case, the blocking of four nucleotides by an RNA-adapter leads to a different pairing of all nucleotides.