Catalytic Synthesis of Polyribonucleic Acid on Prebiotic Rock Glasses

Jerome, Craig A.; Kim, Hyo‐Joong; Mojzsis, Stephen J.; Benner, Steven A.; Biondi, Elisa

doi:10.1089/ast.2022.0027

Cited by 42 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Using activated nucleotides, they were able to form RNA polymers up to 40 mers. More recently, rock glasses have been used to convert ribonucleosides 5′-triphosphates into RNA long of 9–150 mers on average [ 135 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Formation of RNA Pre-Polymers in the Presence of Different Prebiotic Mineral Surfaces Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Dujardin

Himbert

Rheinstädter

2022

Life

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We used all-atom Molecular Dynamics (MD) computer simulations to study the formation of pre-polymers between the four nucleotides in RNA (AMP, UMP, CMP, GMP) in the presence of different substrates that could have been present in a prebiotic environment. Pre-polymers are C3′–C5′ hydrogen-bonded nucleotides that have been suggested to be the precursors of phosphodiester-bonded RNA polymers. We simulated wet–dry cycles by successively removing water molecules from the simulations, from ~60 to 3 water molecules per nucleotide. The nine substrates in this study include three clay minerals, one mica, one phosphate mineral, one silica, and two metal oxides. The substrates differ in their surface charge and ability to form hydrogen bonds with the nucleotides. From the MD simulations, we quantify the interactions between different nucleotides, and between nucleotides and substrates. For comparison, we included graphite as an inert substrate, which is not charged and cannot form hydrogen bonds. We also simulated the dehydration of a nucleotide-only system, which mimics the drying of small droplets. The number of hydrogen bonds between nucleotides and nucleotides and substrates was found to increase significantly when water molecules were removed from the systems. The largest number of C3′–C5′ hydrogen bonds between nucleotides occurred in the graphite and nucleotide-only systems. While the surface of the substrates led to an organization and periodic arrangement of the nucleotides, none of the substrates was found to be a catalyst for pre-polymer formation, neither at full hydration, nor when dehydrated. While confinement and dehydration seem to be the main drivers for hydrogen bond formation, substrate interactions reduced the interactions between nucleotides in all cases. Our findings suggest that small supersaturated water droplets that could have been produced by geysers or springs on the primitive Earth may play an important role in non-enzymatic RNA polymerization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Formation of RNA Pre-Polymers in the Presence of Different Prebiotic Mineral Surfaces Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Dujardin

Himbert

Rheinstädter

2022

Life

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“…Meteorite impact with planetary bodies is proposed as a possible route to their delivery as the course of their origin on Earth and other planets. Recently, it has been shown that the catalytic synthesis of polyribonucleic acids from ribonucleoside triphosphates is possible on prebiotic rock glasses, which resemble the rock on Hadean Earth surface formed by volcanic activities and impacts (Jerome et al, 2022). It is probable that such rock materials, silicates, and minerals in dust grains in the interstellar medium can catalyze similar chemical transformations resulting in molecular evolution to complex systems such as RNA from simple systems.…”

Section: Methanol a Key Synthon Toward Complex Organic Moleculesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methanol in the RNA world: An astrochemical perspective

Mathew

Esteves²,

Prakash³

2022

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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The role and relevance of methanol in the origin and structure of the RNA world is discussed. Methanol is a pivotal, renewable, and regenerable source from which almost all chemical materials, simple or complex, can be accessed. Olefins and carbonyl compounds, amines and amino acids, peptides and polypeptides, and the molecular building blocks in the initial stages of the biological evolution to life’s origin are obtained through methanol as a source material by its chemical transformation. The formation of methanol, whether in stellar and interstellar media, in deep sea-bottom hot hydrothermal vents or from geothermal sources, results from CO2 hydrogenation. It is the basic reaction, setting the stage for the formation of fundamental “organic” building blocks for the formation of simple prebiotic cells to subsequent biological evolution to cells. The important observation of many organics– hydrocarbons and ions including the large expanse of methane and methanol in the interstellar medium and stellar peripheries is a clear indication of “stellar reductive processes” and ensuing reactions shedding light on the probable significant role of extraterrestrial methanol as the basic source material toward a multi-step transformation into complex life molecules such as RNA.

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“…Catalytic surfaces including clays, minerals, rocks, glasses and even meteoritic dust, have also been explored as means of increasing rates of synthesis and polymerization of prebiotic molecules including amino acids, nucleic acids, peptides and polynucleic acids [ 12 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 ]. The literature concerning the use of such natural catalytic surfaces is so large that no attempt is made here to encompass its range.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Apparatuses for Incorporating Natural Selection Processes into Origins-of-Life Experiments to Produce Adaptively Evolving Chemical Ecosystems

Root‐Bernstein

Brown

2022

Life

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Origins-of-life chemical experiments usually aim to produce specific chemical end-products such as amino acids, nucleic acids or sugars. The resulting chemical systems do not evolve or adapt because they lack natural selection processes. We have modified Miller origins-of-life apparatuses to incorporate several natural, prebiotic physicochemical selection factors that can be tested individually or in tandem: freezing-thawing cycles; drying-wetting cycles; ultraviolet light-dark cycles; and catalytic surfaces such as clays or minerals. Each process is already known to drive important origins-of-life chemical reactions such as the production of peptides and synthesis of nucleic acid bases and each can also destroy various reactants and products, resulting selection within the chemical system. No previous apparatus has permitted all of these selection processes to work together. Continuous synthesis and selection of products can be carried out over many months because the apparatuses can be re-gassed. Thus, long-term chemical evolution of chemical ecosystems under various combinations of natural selection may be explored for the first time. We argue that it is time to begin experimenting with the long-term effects of such prebiotic natural selection processes because they may have aided biotic life to emerge by taming the combinatorial chemical explosion that results from unbounded chemical syntheses.

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Catalytic Synthesis of Polyribonucleic Acid on Prebiotic Rock Glasses

Cited by 42 publications

References 37 publications

The Formation of RNA Pre-Polymers in the Presence of Different Prebiotic Mineral Surfaces Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The Formation of RNA Pre-Polymers in the Presence of Different Prebiotic Mineral Surfaces Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Methanol in the RNA world: An astrochemical perspective

Novel Apparatuses for Incorporating Natural Selection Processes into Origins-of-Life Experiments to Produce Adaptively Evolving Chemical Ecosystems

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