The evolution of the protein synthesis system, II. From chemical evolution to biological evolution

Information-energy equivalence and the emergence of self-replicating biological systems

Biological processes are characterized by a decrease in entropy in apparent violation of the second law of thermodynamics. Information stored in genomes help to solve this paradox when interpreted under the relationship between information and energy stated by Brillouin in the 1950's. However, the origins of living forms from inanimate matter which have no information storage device remains an open question. In this paper, a theoretical approach is developed on this issue. The replication of a simple entity with a binary genome is assumed to require an information-equivalent energy in addition to the standard activation energy. It is found that, in some conditions, a decrease in entropy can be accomplished together with a decrease in Gibbs free energy. An equation of the total energy for the replication of this entity is derived. Three factors are predicted to lower this energy: a small number of states of the coding sequence, a lower temperature, and a high ratio of the reaction on diffusion coefficients. These factors may have favoured the emergence of evolutionary demons-information storage devices that are able to decrease entropy. It is evaluated that some short, single-stranded RNA sequences made only of G and of C may conform to this model. The consequences of this model and its predictions on the origins of life on Earth and on other planets are discussed.

Effect of polynucleotides on the dimerization of glycine

Polynucleotides were found to suppress the dimerization reaction of aqueous glycine with trimetaphosphate as the condensing agent. Small anions (chloride, acetate, and phosphate) did not show this effect. The reaction was studied at a pH of about 11.5 and at 70 degrees C and room temperature with a 13 mM concentration of glycine and trimetaphosphate. Under these conditions, the effect of the polynucleotides was in the following order: polyguanylic acid less than polycytidylic acid less than polyadenylic acid less than polyuridylic acid. The result may have a significant implication for the understanding of processes of chemical evolution.