The
hairpin ribozyme is a small section of
RNA that can act as a
ribozyme. Like the
hammerhead ribozyme it is found in RNA
satellites of plant viruses. It was first identified in the minus strand of the tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV) satellite RNA where it
catalyzes self-cleavage and joining (
ligation)
reactions to process the products of
rolling circle virus replication into linear and circular satellite RNA molecules. The hairpin ribozyme is similar to the hammerhead ribozyme in that it does not require a metal ion for the reaction.