Eighty routes to a ribonucleotide world; dispersion and stringency in the decisive selection.
1Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0347, USA.
RNA (New York, N.Y.)
|May 23, 2018
Summary
The study suggests early genetics emerged from ribonucleotides in hazardous pools, favoring specific RNA synthesis under strong selection for coenzyme-like products. This process, called starting bloc selection, rapidly established encoded functions and RNA replication.
Area of Science:
- Origin of Life Studies
- Prebiotic Chemistry
- Molecular Evolution
Background:
- Genetics relies on inherited chemical information, originating from simple molecules in early Earth conditions.
- Prebiotic environments involved ribonucleotides in various geochemical pools with distinct dangers and feeding patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the most probable conditions for the initial emergence of genetic material.
- To explore the role of selection and environmental factors in early chemical evolution.
Main Methods:
- Computational modeling of over 80 combinations of influential variables in ribonucleotide pooling.
- Analysis of selection dynamics under varying pool conditions, synthesis methods, and selection intensities.
Main Results:
- An early, sporadically fed, cross-templating pool in constant danger, with high nucleotide concentration and strong selection for coenzyme-like products, is most likely to host initial genetic selection.
- Starting bloc selection, driven by product dispersion and selection stringency, efficiently establishes encoded functions.
- This process favors templated dinucleotides and may have facilitated RNA replication.
Conclusions:
- The emergence of genetics was likely driven by specific environmental conditions and selection pressures favoring templated RNA synthesis.
- Starting bloc selection provides a robust mechanism for the rapid establishment of encoded biochemical functions from simple precursors.
- This ribodinucleotide-based inheritance route offers a plausible pathway to early RNA replication and the origins of life.
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