Have deoxyribonucleotides and DNA been among the earliest biomolecules? |
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Authors: | H Follmann |
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Institution: | Fachbereich Chemie (Biochemie) der Philipps-Universitat, Marburg, FRG. |
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Abstract: | Unlike ribose chemistry, the chemistry of 2-deoxyribose precludes its formation or at least its incorporation into nucleotides under accepted "primordial soup" conditions; therefore RNA and DNA could not develop in parallel during the evolution of protocells. However, deoxyribonucleotides might have been formed abiotically by direct reduction of ribonucleotides in a primitive version of the biochemical pathway. This sequence of events, in which DNA lagged behind RNA in the assembly of genetic information for an unknown--probably short--period of time is suggested by the primitive traits (i.e., nucleotide binding, thiol redox chemistry, and metal ion catalysis) of present-day enzyme systems of deoxyribonucleotide biosynthesis. The reaction should be amenable to experimental study. |
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