Work

Abiotic synthesis of purine and pyrimidine ribonucleosides in aqueous microdroplets

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Significance Discovery of an improved prebiotic method for the synthesis of ribonucleosides provides support to theories that posit a central role for RNA in the origin of life. It has been assumed that ribonucleosides arose through an abiotic process in which ribose and nucleobases became conjoined, but the direct condensation of nucleobases with ribose to give ribonucleosides in bulk solution is thermodynamically uphill. We show a general synthetic path for ribonucleosides, both purine and pyrimidine bases, using an abiotic salvage pathway in a microdroplet environment with divalent magnesium ion (Mg 2+ ) as a catalyst. Purine and pyrimidine ribonucleosides are formed simultaneously under the same conditions, which suggests a possible scenario for the spontaneous production of random ribonucleosides necessary to generate various types of primitive RNA.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1718559115

Authors: Inho Nam, Hong Gil Nam, Richard N. Zare

Institutions: Institute for Basic Science, Stanford University, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Origins and Evolution of Life

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Institute for Basic Science, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Awards: G46063532, G5196219955