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How the first biopolymers could have evolved

V I Abkevich1, A M Gutin, E I Shakhnovich

  • 1Harvard University, Department of Chemistry, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|January 23, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Early life

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Area of Science:

  • Origin of life studies
  • Biochemistry
  • Evolutionary biology

Background:

  • Understanding the origin of the first biopolymers is crucial for evolutionary biology.
  • Prebiotic conditions likely imposed specific constraints on early biopolymer formation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a mechanism for the origin of stable, unique biopolymer structures.
  • To investigate the physicochemical factors influencing early biopolymer evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Development of an algorithm to generate model protein sequences.
  • Analysis of sequence properties based on prebiotic constraints (compactness, solubility).

Main Results:

  • Generated sequences rapidly fold into stable, unique three-dimensional structures.
  • Physicochemical factors favor the evolution of structured biopolymers.

Conclusions:

  • Stable native structures of early biopolymers may have arisen as a byproduct of prebiotic conditions.
  • Nonspecific physicochemical factors played a key role in the evolution of early biopolymers.

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