Which Way to Life?

Lazcano, Antonio

doi:10.1007/s11084-010-9195-0

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…As discussed elsewhere, the experimental evidence that has been recently used to argue in favor of the metabolism-first theory is equally consistent with a genetic-first description of life (Lazcano 2009). What the metabolic-first approaches require is the confirmation that metabolic (or protometabolic) routes can replicate and evolve.…”

Section: Paving the Road To The Rna Worldsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…Self-assembly is not unique to biology, and may indeed be found in a wide variety of systems, including cellular automata, the complex flow patterns of many different fluids, in cyclic chemical phenomena (such as the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction) and, quite significantly, in the self-assembly of amphiphilic lipid-like molecules in bilayers, micelles, and liposomes (cf. Lazcano 2009). There are indeed some common features among these systems, and it has been claimed that they follow general principles that are in fact equivalent to universal laws of nature (Kauffman 1993).…”

Section: Paving the Road To The Rna Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Historical Development of Origins Research

Lazcano¹

2010

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

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Following the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859, many naturalists adopted the idea that living organisms were the historical outcome of gradual transformation of lifeless matter. These views soon merged with the developments of biochemistry and cell biology and led to proposals in which the origin of protoplasm was equated with the origin of life. The heterotrophic origin of life proposed by Oparin and Haldane in the 1920s was part of this tradition, which Oparin enriched by transforming the discussion of the emergence of the first cells into a workable multidisciplinary research program.On the other hand, the scientific trend toward understanding biological phenomena at the molecular level led authors like Troland, Muller, and others to propose that single molecules or viruses represented primordial living systems. The contrast between these opposing views on the origin of life represents not only contrasting views of the nature of life itself, but also major ideological discussions that reached a surprising intensity in the years following Stanley Miller's seminal result which showed the ease with which organic compounds of biochemical significance could be synthesized under putative primitive conditions. In fact, during the years following the Miller experiment, attempts to understand the origin of life were strongly influenced by research on DNA replication and protein biosynthesis, and, in socio-political terms, by the atmosphere created by Cold War tensions.The catalytic versatility of RNA molecules clearly merits a critical reappraisal of Muller's viewpoint. However, the discovery of ribozymes does not imply that autocatalytic nucleic acid molecules ready to be used as primordial genes were floating in the primitive oceans, or that the RNA world emerged completely assembled from simple precursors present in the prebiotic soup. The evidence supporting the presence of a wide range of organic molecules on the primitive Earth, including membrane-forming compounds, suggests that the evolution of membrane-bounded molecular systems preceded cellular life on our planet, and that life is the evolutionary outcome of a process, not of a single, fortuitous event.

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Section: Paving the Road To The Rna Worldsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Paving the Road To The Rna Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Development of Origins Research

Lazcano¹

2010

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

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“…It can be argued that phylogenomic analyses are only valid if distinct lines of genetic continuity relate information in extant cellular machinery with past molecular events (Lazcano 2010). Indeed, our study suggests several primordial Kauffmann-Dyson polypeptides preceded those encoded in active sites of aaRS and NRPS modules of assembly lines and later on in emerging nucleic acid molecules.…”

Section: The Models and The Principle Of Continuitymentioning

confidence: 74%

The Phylogenomic Roots of Modern Biochemistry: Origins of Proteins, Cofactors and Protein Biosynthesis

2012

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The complexity of modern biochemistry developed gradually on early Earth as new molecules and structures populated the emerging cellular systems. Here, we generate a historical account of the gradual discovery of primordial proteins, cofactors, and molecular functions using phylogenomic information in the sequence of 420 genomes. We focus on structural and functional annotations of the 54 most ancient protein domains. We show how primordial functions are linked to folded structures and how their interaction with cofactors expanded the functional repertoire. We also reveal protocell membranes played a crucial role in early protein evolution and show translation started with RNA and thioester cofactor-mediated aminoacylation. Our findings allow elaboration of an evolutionary model of early biochemistry that is firmly grounded in phylogenomic information and biochemical, biophysical, and structural knowledge. The model describes how primordial α-helical bundles stabilized membranes, how these were decorated by layered arrangements of β-sheets and α-helices, and how these arrangements became globular. Ancient forms of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) catalytic domains and ancient non-ribosomal protein synthetase (NRPS) modules gave rise to primordial protein synthesis and the ability to generate a code for specificity in their active sites. These structures diversified producing cofactor-binding molecular switches and barrel structures. Accretion of domains and molecules gave rise to modern aaRSs, NRPS, and ribosomal ensembles, first organized around novel emerging cofactors (tRNA and carrier proteins) and then more complex cofactor structures (rRNA). The model explains how the generation of protein structures acted as scaffold for nucleic acids and resulted in crystallization of modern translation.

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“…The recognition that the emergence of life is the outcome of an evolutionary process constrained by the laws of physics and chemistry can lead to the acceptance that many properties associated with living systems, such as replication, self-assemblage, or nonenzymatic catalysis are also found in nonliving entities. Some systems may not be "half-alive," but they can exhibit some of the properties we associate with living entities (Lazcano 2010b).…”

Section: Physics Chemistry and The Emergence Of Natural Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the emergence of the biosphere is seen as the evolutionary transition between the nonliving and the living, then it is meaningless to attempt to draw a strict line between these two worlds, and the appearance of life on Earth should, therefore, be seen as an evolutionary continuum that seamlessly joins the prebiotic synthesis and accumulation of organic molecules in the primitive environment, with the emergence of self-sustaining, replicative chemical systems capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution (Lazcano 2010b).…”

Section: Physics Chemistry and The Emergence Of Natural Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Should the Teaching of Biological Evolution Include the Origin of Life?

Lazcano

Peretó

2010

Evo Edu Outreach

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The development of mainstream research on the origin of life as an outcome of Darwinian evolution is discussed. It is argued that prebiotic evolution and the origin of life should not be excluded from the syllabus and should be part of classes on biological evolution, and that the transition from non-living to living matter is best understood when seen as part of evolutionary biology. The wide acceptance of evolutionary approaches to the study of the emergence of life in European and Latin American countries is discussed.

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Which Way to Life?

Cited by 26 publications

References 18 publications

Historical Development of Origins Research

Historical Development of Origins Research

The Phylogenomic Roots of Modern Biochemistry: Origins of Proteins, Cofactors and Protein Biosynthesis

Should the Teaching of Biological Evolution Include the Origin of Life?

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