Roles of HDV‐like self‐cleaving ribozymes in retrotransposition

Using structure‐based bioinformatics, we recently discovered self‐cleaving ribozymes of the Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV) family in another virus, a bacterium, and many eukaryotes. The genomic locations of some of these ribozymes suggest that they play a variety of biological roles. HDV‐like ribozymes from several organisms are associated with putative reverse transcriptase genes and retrotransposons, pointing to a possible function in retrotransposition. The specific roles of HDV‐like ribozymes in retrotransposition are being investigated using a variety of in vitro and in vivo approaches.