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Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth

There are several theories on the origin of life, which differ by choosing the preponderant factor of emergence: main function (autocatalysis versus replication), initial location (black smokers versus ponds) or first molecule (RNA versus DNA). Among the two last ones, the first assumes that an RNA...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Demongeot, Jacques, Thellier, Michel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9916791/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36768599
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032274
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author Demongeot, Jacques
Thellier, Michel
author_facet Demongeot, Jacques
Thellier, Michel
author_sort Demongeot, Jacques
collection PubMed
description There are several theories on the origin of life, which differ by choosing the preponderant factor of emergence: main function (autocatalysis versus replication), initial location (black smokers versus ponds) or first molecule (RNA versus DNA). Among the two last ones, the first assumes that an RNA world involving a collaboration of small RNAs with amino-acids pre-existed and the second that DNA–enzyme–lipid complexes existed first. The debate between these classic theories is not closed and the arguments for one or the other of these theories have recently fueled a debate in which the two have a high degree of likelihood. It therefore seems interesting to propose a third intermediate way, based on the existence of an RNA that may have existed before the latter stages postulated by these theories, and therefore may be the missing link towards a common origin of them. To search for a possible ancestral structure, we propose as candidate a small RNA existing in ring or hairpin form in the early stages of life, which could have acted as a “proto-ribosome” by favoring the synthesis of the first peptides. Remnants of this putative candidate RNA exist in molecules nowadays involved in the ribosomal factory, the concentrations of these relics depending on the seniority of these molecules within the translation process.
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spelling pubmed-99167912023-02-11 Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth Demongeot, Jacques Thellier, Michel Int J Mol Sci Hypothesis There are several theories on the origin of life, which differ by choosing the preponderant factor of emergence: main function (autocatalysis versus replication), initial location (black smokers versus ponds) or first molecule (RNA versus DNA). Among the two last ones, the first assumes that an RNA world involving a collaboration of small RNAs with amino-acids pre-existed and the second that DNA–enzyme–lipid complexes existed first. The debate between these classic theories is not closed and the arguments for one or the other of these theories have recently fueled a debate in which the two have a high degree of likelihood. It therefore seems interesting to propose a third intermediate way, based on the existence of an RNA that may have existed before the latter stages postulated by these theories, and therefore may be the missing link towards a common origin of them. To search for a possible ancestral structure, we propose as candidate a small RNA existing in ring or hairpin form in the early stages of life, which could have acted as a “proto-ribosome” by favoring the synthesis of the first peptides. Remnants of this putative candidate RNA exist in molecules nowadays involved in the ribosomal factory, the concentrations of these relics depending on the seniority of these molecules within the translation process. MDPI 2023-01-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9916791/ /pubmed/36768599 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032274 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Hypothesis
Demongeot, Jacques
Thellier, Michel
Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth
title Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth
title_full Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth
title_fullStr Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth
title_full_unstemmed Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth
title_short Primitive Oligomeric RNAs at the Origins of Life on Earth
title_sort primitive oligomeric rnas at the origins of life on earth
topic Hypothesis
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9916791/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36768599
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032274
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