Common origins of RNA, protein and lipid precursors in a cyanosulfidic protometabolism

A minimal cell can be thought of as comprising informational, compartment-forming and metabolic subsystems. To imagine the abiotic assembly of such an overall system, however, places great demands on hypothetical prebiotic chemistry. The perceived differences and incompatibilities between these subs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature chemistry 2015-04, Vol.7 (4), p.301-307
Main Authors: Patel, Bhavesh H., Percivalle, Claudia, Ritson, Dougal J., Duffy, Colm D., Sutherland, John D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
140/131
639/638/92/349
Amino acids
Analytical Chemistry
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry/Food Science
Cyanides - chemistry
Cyanides - metabolism
Hydrogen sulfide
Inorganic Chemistry
Lipids
Lipids - chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Proteins - chemistry
RNA - chemistry
Sulfites - chemistry
Sulfites - metabolism
Ultraviolet radiation
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Summary:A minimal cell can be thought of as comprising informational, compartment-forming and metabolic subsystems. To imagine the abiotic assembly of such an overall system, however, places great demands on hypothetical prebiotic chemistry. The perceived differences and incompatibilities between these subsystems have led to the widely held assumption that one or other subsystem must have preceded the others. Here we experimentally investigate the validity of this assumption by examining the assembly of various biomolecular building blocks from prebiotically plausible intermediates and one-carbon feedstock molecules. We show that precursors of ribonucleotides, amino acids and lipids can all be derived by the reductive homologation of hydrogen cyanide and some of its derivatives, and thus that all the cellular subsystems could have arisen simultaneously through common chemistry. The key reaction steps are driven by ultraviolet light, use hydrogen sulfide as the reductant and can be accelerated by Cu( I )–Cu (II) photoredox cycling. A minimal cell — one that has all the minimum requirements for life — is still a complex entity comprising informational, compartment-forming and metabolic subsystems. Here it is shown that, contrary to previous assumptions, a common prebiotically plausible chemistry can give rise to building blocks for all the subsystems.
ISSN:1755-4330
1755-4349
DOI:10.1038/nchem.2202