Abiotic synthesis of purine and pyrimidine ribonucleosides in aqueous microdroplets
Abstract
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.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 18, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1718559115
Entities
People
- Hong Gil Nam
- Inho Nam
- Richard Zare
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology
- Institute for Basic Science
- Stanford University