A Step toward Molecular Evolution of RNA: Ribose Binds to Prebiotic Fatty Acid Membranes, and Nucleosides Bind Better than Individual Bases Do
| Autor: | Mengjun Xue, Roy A. Black, Sarah L. Keller, Gary P. Drobny, Caitlin E. Cornell |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Ribose
Origin of Life 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences Biochemistry Article Nucleobase chemistry.chemical_compound Nucleotide Particle Size Molecular Biology Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Biomolecular chemistry.chemical_classification Binding Sites Evolution Chemical 010405 organic chemistry Organic Chemistry Fatty acid RNA Nucleosides Decanoic acid 0104 chemical sciences Membrane chemistry Molecular Medicine Nucleoside Decanoic Acids |
| Zdroj: | Chembiochem |
| ISSN: | 1439-7633 |
| Popis: | A major challenge in understanding how biological cells arose on the early Earth is explaining how RNA and membranes originally co-localized. We propose that the building blocks of RNA (nucleobases and ribose) bound to self-assembled prebiotic membranes. We have previously demonstrated that the bases bind to membranes composed of a prebiotic fatty acid, but evidence for the binding of sugars has remained a technical challenge. Here, we use pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance to demonstrate that ribose and other sugars bind to membranes of decanoic acid. Moreover, binding of some bases is strongly enhanced when they are linked to ribose to form a nucleoside or—with the addition of phosphate—a nucleotide. This enhanced binding could have played a role in the molecular evolution leading to the production of RNA. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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