A possible prebiotic synthesis of purine, adenine, cytosine, and 4(3H)-pyrimidinone from formamide implications for the origin of life

Saladino, Raffaele; Crestini, Claudia; Costanzo, Giovanna; Negri, Rodolfo; Mauro, Ernesto Di

doi:10.1016/s0968-0896(00)00340-0

Cited by 194 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…2 and Scheme 1 pathway "A") [71]. These data were the first example of the one-pot synthesis of cytosine starting from a one-carbon atom precursor as simple as H 2 NCHO [72].…”

Section: Syntheses Of Nucleic Bases From Formamidementioning

confidence: 79%

Formamide and the origin of life

Saladino

Crestini

Pino

et al. 2012

Physics of Life Reviews

260

234

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The complexity of life boils down to the definition: "self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution" (Joyce, 1994) [1]. The term "self-sustained" implies a set of chemical reactions capable of harnessing energy from the environment, using it to carry out programmed anabolic and catabolic functions. We briefly present our opinion on the general validity of this definition.Running anabolic and catabolic functions entails complex chemical information whose stability, reproducibility and evolution constitute the core of what is dubbed genetics.Life as-we-know-it is made of the intimate interaction of metabolism and genetics, both built around the chemistry of the most common elements of the Universe (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon). Other elements like phosphorus and sulphur play important but ancillary and potentially replaceable roles.The reproducible interaction of metabolic and genetic cycles results in the hypercycles of organization and de-organization of chemical information that we consider living entities. In order to approach the problem of the origin of life it is therefore reasonable to start from the assumption that both metabolism and genetics had a common origin, shared a common chemical frame, were embedded in physical-chemical conditions favourable for the onset of both.The most abundant three-atoms organic compound in interstellar environment is hydrogen cyanide HCN, the most abundant three-atoms inorganic compound is water H 2 O. The combination of the two results in the formation of formamide H 2 NCOH. We have explored the chemistry of formamide in conditions compatible with the synthesis and the stability of compounds of potential pre-genetic and pre-metabolic interest. We discuss evidence showing (i) that all the compounds necessary for the build-up of nucleic acids are easily obtained abiotically, (ii) that essentially all the steps leading to the spontaneous generation of RNA are abiotically possible, (iii) that the key compounds of extant metabolic cycles are obtained in the same chemical frame, often in the same test tube.How close are these observations to a plausible scenario for the origin of life?

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“…2 and Scheme 1 pathway "A") [71]. These data were the first example of the one-pot synthesis of cytosine starting from a one-carbon atom precursor as simple as H 2 NCHO [72].…”

Section: Syntheses Of Nucleic Bases From Formamidementioning

confidence: 79%

Formamide and the origin of life

Saladino

Crestini

Pino

et al. 2012

Physics of Life Reviews

260

234

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“…Some of the most successful attempts to simulate primitive abiogenic reactions have been conducted under conditions that are compatible with reconstructed conditions at the geothermal fields of the anoxic Earth. These promising experiments include syntheses of biologically relevant compounds in formamide solutions (98)(99)(100)(101)(102)(103)(104)(105)(106)(107)(108)(111)(112)(113)(114)(115), photosynthesis/photoselection of natural nucleotides (120)(121)(122)133), montmorillonite-catalyzed formation of long RNA oligomers (118) and membrane vesicles (134), RNA polymerization in the eutectic phase in water-ice (135), abiotic UV photosynthesis of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates at ZnS (83,84) and TiO 2 crystals (136), as well as UV-triggered recharging of ADP to ATP (137). Further experimental exploration of models that mimic the conditions at anoxic geothermal fields are expected to shed more light on precellular evolution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, the wetted surfaces would undergo continuous drying resulting in selective accumulation of the least volatile compounds, which, in this case, would be simple amides, with boiling points of approximately 200°C due to their ability to form strong hydrogen bonds. Formamide, the likely key building block for abiotic synthesis of nucleotides and amino acids (98)(99)(100)(101)(102)(103)(104)(105)(106)(107)(108), could form via hydrolysis of hydrogen cyanide, which is found in volcanic gases and in exhalations of geothermal fields (109). In addition, elimination of a water molecule from ammonia salts of carboxylic acids could also yield amides, in particular, formamide from ammonia formate.…”

Section: Terrestrial Anoxic Geothermal Fields As Cradles For Earliestmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The yield of photochemical and thermal syntheses in amide-containing solutions could be further enhanced by catalytic action of mineral surfaces. Specifically, it has been shown that silica minerals catalyze the formation of adenine and cytosine from formamide (103,111) and that TiO 2 , the main component of the mineral rutile, could catalyze the formation not only of purine derivatives but also of thymine, 5-hydroxymethyluracil, and even acyclonucleosides (112). Even widespread iron oxides have been shown to catalyze the synthesis of nucleobases from formamide (113).…”

Section: Terrestrial Anoxic Geothermal Fields As Cradles For Earliestmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Origin of first cells at terrestrial, anoxic geothermal fields

Mulkidjanian

Bychkov²,

Dibrova³

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

374

336

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All cells contain much more potassium, phosphate, and transition metals than modern (or reconstructed primeval) oceans, lakes, or rivers. Cells maintain ion gradients by using sophisticated, energydependent membrane enzymes (membrane pumps) that are embedded in elaborate ion-tight membranes. The first cells could possess neither ion-tight membranes nor membrane pumps, so the concentrations of small inorganic molecules and ions within protocells and in their environment would equilibrate. Hence, the ion composition of modern cells might reflect the inorganic ion composition of the habitats of protocells. We attempted to reconstruct the "hatcheries" of the first cells by combining geochemical analysis with phylogenomic scrutiny of the inorganic ion requirements of universal components of modern cells. These ubiquitous, and by inference primordial, proteins and functional systems show affinity to and functional requirement for K + , Zn 2+ , Mn 2+, and phosphate. Thus, protocells must have evolved in habitats with a high K + /Na + ratio and relatively high concentrations of Zn, Mn, and phosphorous compounds. Geochemical reconstruction shows that the ionic composition conducive to the origin of cells could not have existed in marine settings but is compatible with emissions of vapor-dominated zones of inland geothermal systems. Under the anoxic, CO 2 -dominated primordial atmosphere, the chemistry of basins at geothermal fields would resemble the internal milieu of modern cells. The precellular stages of evolution might have transpired in shallow ponds of condensed and cooled geothermal vapor that were lined with porous silicate minerals mixed with metal sulfides and enriched in K + , Zn 2+, and phosphorous compounds.

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“…Heating HCN tetramer or AICN with ammonium formate-the hydrolysis product of HCN-in the solid state is another way of obtaining adenine (Zubay & Mui, 2001;Hill & Orgel, 2002). Adenine has also been obtained directly by heating formamide, a synthesis that may involve HCN as an intermediate (Saladino et al, 2001). However, none of the reactions has been proven to contribute directly to adenine synthesis under the conditions employed by Oro and his coworkers.…”

Section: Purine Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of the RNA World

Orgel

2004

Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

923

248

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The demonstration that ribosomal peptide synthesis is a ribozyme-catalyzed reaction makes it almost certain that there was once an RNA World. The central problem for origin-of-life studies, therefore, is to understand how a protein-free RNA World became established on the primitive Earth. We first review the literature on the prebiotic synthesis of the nucleotides, the nonenzymatic synthesis and copying of polynucleotides, and the selection of ribozyme catalysts of a kind that might have facilitated polynucleotide replication. This leads to a brief outline of the Molecular Biologists' Dream, an optimistic scenario for the origin of the RNA World. In the second part of the review we point out the many unresolved problems presented by the Molecular Biologists' Dream. This in turn leads to a discussion of genetic systems simpler than RNA that might have "invented" RNA. Finally, we review studies of prebiotic membrane formation.

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A possible prebiotic synthesis of purine, adenine, cytosine, and 4(3H)-pyrimidinone from formamide implications for the origin of life

Cited by 194 publications

References 29 publications

Formamide and the origin of life

Formamide and the origin of life

Origin of first cells at terrestrial, anoxic geothermal fields

Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of the RNA World

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