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The Role of Glycerol and Its Derivatives in the Biochemistry of Living Organisms, and Their Prebiotic Origin and Significance in the Evolution of Life. Catalysts 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/catal11010086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence and evolution of prebiotic biomolecules on the early Earth remain a question that is considered crucial to understanding the chemistry of the origin of life. Amongst prebiotic molecules, glycerol is significant due to its ubiquity in biochemistry. In this review, we discuss the significance of glycerol and its various derivatives in biochemistry, their plausible roles in the origin and evolution of early cell membranes, and significance in the biochemistry of extremophiles, followed by their prebiotic origin on the early Earth and associated catalytic processes that led to the origin of these compounds. We also discuss various scenarios for the prebiotic syntheses of glycerol and its derivates and evaluate these to determine their relevance to early Earth biochemistry and geochemistry, and recapitulate the utilization of various minerals (including clays), condensation agents, and solvents that could have led to the successful prebiotic genesis of these biomolecules. Furthermore, important prebiotic events such as meteoritic delivery and prebiotic synthesis reactions under astrophysical conditions are also discussed. Finally, we have also highlighted some novel features of glycerol, including glycerol nucleic acid (GNA), in the origin and evolution of the life.
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2
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Abstract
The chemistry of abiotic nucleotide synthesis of RNA and DNA in the context of their prebiotic origins on early earth is a continuing challenge. How did (or how can) the nucleotides form and assemble from the small molecule inventories and under conditions that prevailed on early earth 3.5-4 billion years ago? This review provides a background and up-to-date progress that will allow the reader to judge where the field stands currently and what remains to be achieved. We start with a brief primer on the biological synthesis of nucleotides, followed by an extensive focus on the prebiotic formation of the components of nucleotides-either via the synthesis of ribose and the canonical nucleobases and then joining them together or by building both the conjoined sugar and nucleobase, part-by-part-toward the ultimate goal of forming RNA and DNA by polymerization. The review will emphasize that there are-and will continue to be-many more questions than answers from the synthetic, mechanistic, and analytical perspectives. We wrap up the review with a cautionary note in this context about coming to conclusions as to whether the problem of chemistry of prebiotic nucleotide synthesis has been solved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahipal Yadav
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States.,NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Ravi Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States.,NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States.,NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
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3
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Affiliation(s)
- Divya Bhatt
- Department of ChemistryIndian Institute of Technology Ropar Nangal Road, Rupnagar Punjab- 140001 India
| | - Chandresh Kumari
- Department of ChemistryIndian Institute of Technology Ropar Nangal Road, Rupnagar Punjab- 140001 India
| | - Avijit Goswami
- Department of ChemistryIndian Institute of Technology Ropar Nangal Road, Rupnagar Punjab- 140001 India
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4
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Hu J, Lei W, Wang J, Chen HY, Xu JJ. Regioselective 5'-position phosphorylation of ribose and ribonucleosides: phosphate transfer in the activated pyrophosphate complex in the gas phase. Chem Commun (Camb) 2019; 55:310-313. [PMID: 30468222 DOI: 10.1039/c8cc08510b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Herein, we present a rapid, efficient and regioselective phosphorylation method at the 5'-position of unprotected ribose and ribonucleosides with pyrophosphate in the gas phase, which involves the formation of anionic complexes via electrospray ionization and collisional activation to induce phosphorylation within the complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
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5
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Abstract
The general notion of an "RNA world" is that, in the early development of life on the Earth, genetic continuity was assured by the replication of RNA, and RNA molecules were the chief agents of catalytic function. Assuming that all of the components of RNA were available in some prebiotic locale, these components could have assembled into activated nucleotides that condensed to form RNA polymers, setting the stage for the chemical replication of polynucleotides through RNA-templated RNA polymerization. If a sufficient diversity of RNAs could be copied with reasonable rate and fidelity, then Darwinian evolution would begin with RNAs that facilitated their own reproduction enjoying a selective advantage. The concept of a "protocell" refers to a compartment where replication of the primitive genetic material took place and where primitive catalysts gave rise to products that accumulated locally for the benefit of the replicating cellular entity. Replication of both the protocell and its encapsulated genetic material would have enabled natural selection to operate based on the differential fitness of competing cellular entities, ultimately giving rise to modern cellular life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerald F Joyce
- The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037
| | - Jack W Szostak
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
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6
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Fernández-García C, Grefenstette NM, Powner MW. Prebiotic synthesis of aminooxazoline-5'-phosphates in water by oxidative phosphorylation. Chem Commun (Camb) 2018; 53:4919-4921. [PMID: 28401215 DOI: 10.1039/c7cc02183f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
RNA is essential to all life on Earth and is the leading candidate for the first biopolymer of life. Aminooxazolines have recently emerged as key prebiotic ribonucleotide precursors, and here we develop a novel strategy for aminooxazoline-5'-phosphate synthesis in water from prebiotic feedstocks. Oxidation of acrolein delivers glycidaldehyde (90%), which directs a regioselective phosphorylation in water and specifically affords 5'-phosphorylated nucleotide precursors in upto 36% yield. We also demonstrated a generational link between proteinogenic amino acids (Met, Glu, Gln) and nucleotide synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - N M Grefenstette
- Department of Chemistry, UCL, 20 Gordon St., London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.
| | - M W Powner
- Department of Chemistry, UCL, 20 Gordon St., London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.
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7
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Šponer JE, Szabla R, Góra RW, Saitta AM, Pietrucci F, Saija F, Di Mauro E, Saladino R, Ferus M, Civiš S, Šponer J. Prebiotic synthesis of nucleic acids and their building blocks at the atomic level - merging models and mechanisms from advanced computations and experiments. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 18:20047-66. [PMID: 27136968 DOI: 10.1039/c6cp00670a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The origin of life on Earth is one of the most fascinating questions of contemporary science. Extensive research in the past decades furnished diverse experimental proposals for the emergence of first informational polymers that could form the basis of the early terrestrial life. Side by side with the experiments, the fast development of modern computational chemistry methods during the last 20 years facilitated the use of in silico modelling tools to complement the experiments. Modern computations can provide unique atomic-level insights into the structural and electronic aspects as well as the energetics of key prebiotic chemical reactions. Many of these insights are not directly obtainable from the experimental techniques and the computations are thus becoming indispensable for proper interpretation of many experiments and for qualified predictions. This review illustrates the synergy between experiment and theory in the origin of life research focusing on the prebiotic synthesis of various nucleic acid building blocks and on the self-assembly of nucleotides leading to the first functional oligonucleotides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit E Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, CZ-612 65 Brno, Czech Republic. and CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Campus Bohunice, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Rafał Szabla
- Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, CZ-612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Robert W Góra
- Theoretical Chemistry Group, Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Wrocław University of Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland
| | - A Marco Saitta
- Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, CNRS, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR 7590, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Fabio Pietrucci
- Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, CNRS, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR 7590, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Franz Saija
- CNR-IPCF, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres 37, 98158 Messina, Italy
| | - Ernesto Di Mauro
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Raffaele Saladino
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche Università della Tuscia, Via San Camillo De Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Martin Ferus
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Dolejškova 3, CZ-182 23 Prague 8, Czech Republic
| | - Svatopluk Civiš
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Dolejškova 3, CZ-182 23 Prague 8, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, CZ-612 65 Brno, Czech Republic. and CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Campus Bohunice, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500 Brno, Czech Republic
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8
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Fernández-García C, Coggins AJ, Powner MW. A Chemist's Perspective on the Role of Phosphorus at the Origins of Life. Life (Basel) 2017; 7:E31. [PMID: 28703763 PMCID: PMC5617956 DOI: 10.3390/life7030031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2017] [Revised: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 07/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The central role that phosphates play in biological systems, suggests they also played an important role in the emergence of life on Earth. In recent years, numerous important advances have been made towards understanding the influence that phosphates may have had on prebiotic chemistry, and here, we highlight two important aspects of prebiotic phosphate chemistry. Firstly, we discuss prebiotic phosphorylation reactions; we specifically contrast aqueous electrophilic phosphorylation, and aqueous nucleophilic phosphorylation strategies, with dry-state phosphorylations that are mediated by dissociative phosphoryl-transfer. Secondly, we discuss the non-structural roles that phosphates can play in prebiotic chemistry. Here, we focus on the mechanisms by which phosphate has guided prebiotic reactivity through catalysis or buffering effects, to facilitating selective transformations in neutral water. Several prebiotic routes towards the synthesis of nucleotides, amino acids, and core metabolites, that have been facilitated or controlled by phosphate acting as a general acid-base catalyst, pH buffer, or a chemical buffer, are outlined. These facile and subtle mechanisms for incorporation and exploitation of phosphates to orchestrate selective, robust prebiotic chemistry, coupled with the central and universally conserved roles of phosphates in biochemistry, provide an increasingly clear message that understanding phosphate chemistry will be a key element in elucidating the origins of life on Earth.
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9
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Szabla R, Kruse H, Šponer J, Góra RW. Water–chromophore electron transfer determines the photochemistry of cytosine and cytidine. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2017; 19:17531-17537. [DOI: 10.1039/c7cp02635h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Irradiation of aqueous cytidine may result in a water–chromophore electron transfer process which explains numerous experimental observations, including photodamage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafał Szabla
- Institute of Physics
- Polish Academy of Sciences
- PL-02668 Warsaw
- Poland
- Institute of Biophysics
| | - Holger Kruse
- Institute of Biophysics
- Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
- 61265, Brno
- Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics
- Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
- 61265, Brno
- Czech Republic
| | - Robert W. Góra
- Department of Physical and Quantum Chemistry
- Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
- 50-370 Wrocław
- Poland
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10
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Ai Y, Xia S, Liao RZ. Theoretical Studies on the Photochemistry of Pentose Aminooxazoline, a Hypothetical Intermediate Product in the Prebiotic Synthetic Scenario of RNA Nucleotides. J Phys Chem B 2016; 120:9329-37. [PMID: 27525736 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b06061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
2-Aminooxazole is generally considered a prebiotic precursor of ribonucleotides on the early earth. Its pentose compound, pentose aminooxazoline, has been suggested to be a key intermediate in the prebiotic synthetic scenario. In this article, detailed mechanism of the photochemistry of pentose aminooxazoline has been studied by performing density functional theory and multireference complete active space self-consistent field calculations. Parallel to the "ring-puckering" process, which leads to ultrafast nonradiative deactivation, several other photodissociation channels are explored in detail. In addition, the influences of the pentose structure and solvation effects with both implicit and explicit water models have been uncovered for both neutral and protonated forms. The current theoretical results provide very important information not only for the photostability of RNA nucleotides but also for an in-depth understanding of the synthesis of other prebiotic nucleotides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuejie Ai
- School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, North China Electric Power University , Beijing 102206, China
| | - Shuhua Xia
- College of Life and Environmental Science, Minzu University of China , Beijing 100081, China
| | - Rong-Zhen Liao
- Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Materials Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , Wuhan 430074, China
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11
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Banerjee A, Ganguly G, Tripathi R, Nair NN, Paul A. Unearthing the Mechanism of Prebiotic Nitrile Bond Reduction in Hydrogen Cyanide through a Curious Association of Two Molecular Radical Anions. Chemistry 2014; 20:6348-57. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.201304627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2013] [Revised: 01/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ambar Banerjee
- Raman Centre for Atomic Molecular and Optical Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 2A/2B Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, 700032 (India)
| | - Gaurab Ganguly
- Raman Centre for Atomic Molecular and Optical Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 2A/2B Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, 700032 (India)
| | - Ravi Tripathi
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, IIT Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, UP 208016 (India)
| | - Nisanth N. Nair
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, IIT Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, UP 208016 (India)
| | - Ankan Paul
- Raman Centre for Atomic Molecular and Optical Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 2A/2B Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, 700032 (India)
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12
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Gong W, Huang F, Sun C, Zhao X, Chen D. Mechanism and diastereoselectivity of the prebiotic synthesis of deoxyribonucleotide precursors C5-thiazoline: A DFT study. COMPUT THEOR CHEM 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.comptc.2014.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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13
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Ruiz-Mirazo K, Briones C, de la Escosura A. Prebiotic Systems Chemistry: New Perspectives for the Origins of Life. Chem Rev 2013; 114:285-366. [DOI: 10.1021/cr2004844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 563] [Impact Index Per Article: 51.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
- Biophysics
Unit (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Leioa, and Department of Logic and Philosophy
of Science, University of the Basque Country, Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20080 Donostia−San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Carlos Briones
- Department
of Molecular Evolution, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC−INTA, associated to the NASA Astrobiology Institute), Carretera de Ajalvir, Km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Andrés de la Escosura
- Organic
Chemistry Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
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Islam S, Aguilar JA, Powner MW, Nilsson M, Morris GA, Sutherland JD. Detection of potential TNA and RNA nucleoside precursors in a prebiotic mixture by pure shift diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy. Chemistry 2013; 19:4586-95. [PMID: 23371787 PMCID: PMC3814424 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201202649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2012] [Revised: 12/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
In the context of prebiotic chemistry, one of the characteristics of mixed nitrogenous-oxygenous chemistry is its propensity to give rise to highly complex reaction mixtures. There is therefore an urgent need to develop improved spectroscopic techniques if onerous chromatographic separations are to be avoided. One potential avenue is the combination of pure shift methodology, in which NMR spectra are measured with greatly improved resolution by suppressing multiplet structure, with diffusion-ordered spectroscopy, in which NMR signals from different species are distinguished through their different rates of diffusion. Such a combination has the added advantage of working with intact mixtures, allowing analyses to be carried out without perturbing mixtures in which chemical entities are part of a network of reactions in equilibrium. As part of a systems chemistry approach towards investigating the self-assembly of potentially prebiotic small molecules, we have analysed the complex mixture arising from mixing glycolaldehyde and cyanamide, in a first application of pure shift DOSY NMR to the characterisation of a partially unknown reaction composition. The work presented illustrates the potential of pure shift DOSY to be applied to chemistries that give rise to mixtures of compounds in which the NMR signal resolution is poor. The direct formation of potential RNA and TNA nucleoside precursors, amongst other adducts, was observed. These preliminary observations may have implications for the potentially prebiotic assembly chemistry of pyrimidine threonucleotides, and therefore of TNA, by using recently reported chemistries that yield the activated pyridimidine ribonucleotides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saidul Islam
- School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
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15
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Abstract
The general notion of an "RNA World" is that, in the early development of life on the Earth, genetic continuity was assured by the replication of RNA and genetically encoded proteins were not involved as catalysts. There is now strong evidence indicating that an RNA World did indeed exist before DNA- and protein-based life. However, arguments regarding whether life on Earth began with RNA are more tenuous. It might be imagined that all of the components of RNA were available in some prebiotic pool, and that these components assembled into replicating, evolving polynucleotides without the prior existence of any evolved macromolecules. A thorough consideration of this "RNA-first" view of the origin of life must reconcile concerns regarding the intractable mixtures that are obtained in experiments designed to simulate the chemistry of the primitive Earth. Perhaps these concerns will eventually be resolved, and recent experimental findings provide some reason for optimism. However, the problem of the origin of the RNA World is far from being solved, and it is fruitful to consider the alternative possibility that RNA was preceded by some other replicating, evolving molecule, just as DNA and proteins were preceded by RNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P Robertson
- Departments of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
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16
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Benner SA, Kim HJ, Yang Z. Setting the stage: the history, chemistry, and geobiology behind RNA. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2012; 4:a003541. [PMID: 20880988 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a003541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
No community-accepted scientific methods are available today to guide studies on what role RNA played in the origin and early evolution of life on Earth. Further, a definition-theory for life is needed to develop hypotheses relating to the "RNA First" model for the origin of life. Four approaches are currently at various stages of development of such a definition-theory to guide these studies. These are (a) paleogenetics, in which inferences about the structure of past life are drawn from the structure of present life; (b) prebiotic chemistry, in which hypotheses with experimental support are sought that get RNA from organic and inorganic species possibly present on early Earth; (c) exploration, hoping to encounter life independent of terran life, which might contain RNA; and (d) synthetic biology, in which laboratories attempt to reproduce biological behavior with unnatural chemical systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven A Benner
- Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Florida 32601, USA.
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Kim HJ, Ricardo A, Illangkoon HI, Kim MJ, Carrigan MA, Frye F, Benner SA. Synthesis of Carbohydrates in Mineral-Guided Prebiotic Cycles. J Am Chem Soc 2011; 133:9457-68. [PMID: 21553892 DOI: 10.1021/ja201769f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 158] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Hyo-Joong Kim
- Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 13174, Gainesville, Florida 32604, United States
| | - Alonso Ricardo
- Ra Pharmaceuticals, One Kendall Square, Suite B14301, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Heshan I. Illangkoon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Myong Jung Kim
- Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 13174, Gainesville, Florida 32604, United States
| | - Matthew A. Carrigan
- Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 13174, Gainesville, Florida 32604, United States
| | - Fabianne Frye
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 225 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Steven A. Benner
- Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 13174, Gainesville, Florida 32604, United States
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18
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Šponer JE, Šponer J, Fuentes-Cabrera M. Prebiotic Routes to Nucleosides: A Quantum Chemical Insight into the Energetics of the Multistep Reaction Pathways. Chemistry 2010; 17:847-54. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.201002057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2010] [Revised: 09/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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19
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Powner MW, Sutherland JD. Potentially prebiotic synthesis of pyrimidine beta-D-ribonucleotides by photoanomerization/hydrolysis of alpha-D-cytidine-2'-phosphate. Chembiochem 2008; 9:2386-7. [PMID: 18798212 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.200800391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew W Powner
- School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK
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21
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Powner MW, Anastasi C, Crowe MA, Parkes AL, Raftery J, Sutherland JD. On the prebiotic synthesis of ribonucleotides: photoanomerisation of cytosine nucleosides and nucleotides revisited. Chembiochem 2007; 8:1170-9. [PMID: 17549787 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.200700098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Recent work has emphasised the importance of D-ribose aminooxazoline 1 in the synthesis of cytidine ribonucleosides under potentially prebiotic conditions. Upon treatment with cyanoacetylene, 1 is transformed into alpha-D-cytidine (alpha-2), and if an efficient means of anomerising this nucleoside or a derivative thereof were to be found, then the synthesis of one of the key beta-D-nucleosides required to make RNA would be realised. Photoanomerisation of alpha-2 has previously been described, but the yield was extremely low. Therefore, the present study was initiated to determine whether this low yield was the result of a low conversion or competing reaction pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew W Powner
- School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
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22
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Jenkinson SF, Jones NA, Moussa A, Stewart AJ, Heinz T, Fleet GW. Anomeric stereospecific synthesis of 2′-C-methyl β-nucleosides; the Holy reaction of cyanamide with 2-C-methyl-d-arabinose. Tetrahedron Lett 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2007.04.105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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23
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Anastasi C, Buchet FF, Crowe MA, Parkes AL, Powner MW, Smith JM, Sutherland JD. RNA: prebiotic product, or biotic invention? Chem Biodivers 2007; 4:721-39. [PMID: 17443885 DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.200790060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Spectacular advances in structural and molecular biology have added support to the 'RNA world' hypothesis, and provide a mandate for chemistry to explain how RNA might have been generated prebiotically on the early earth. Difficulties in achieving a prebiotically plausible synthesis of RNA, however, have led many to ponder the question posed in the title of this paper. Herein, we review recent experimental work on the assembly of potential RNA precursors, focusing on methods for stereoselective C-C bond construction by aldolisation and related processes. This chemistry is presented in the context of a broader picture of the potential constitutional self-assembly of RNA. Finally, the relative accessibility of RNA and alternative nucleic acids is considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carole Anastasi
- School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK
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