Trifonov EN. The origin of the genetic code and of the earliest oligopeptides.
Res Microbiol 2009;
160:481-6. [PMID:
19524038 DOI:
10.1016/j.resmic.2009.05.004]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2009] [Revised: 05/26/2009] [Accepted: 05/27/2009] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Reconstruction of the earliest proteins in the ancient binary alphabet [glycine family G, alanine family A] leads to repeats of G alternating with repeats of A. In addition, omnipresent motifs can be assembled in two of the earliest genes involved in energy supply, crucial for Life, i.e. ATP/GTP binding and ATPase activity. They are an almost perfect match to the alternating G and A and are complementary to each other.
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