Self And The Phenomenon Of Life: A Biologist Examines Life From Molecules To Humanity

(Sean Pound) #1
Self and the Beginning of Life 71

“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity

Wei K, et al. (2000) Ribozyme-catalyzed tRNA aminoacylation. Nature Struc-
tural Biol 7: 28–33; Johnston WK, Unrau PJ, Lawrence MS, et al. (2001)
RNA-catalyzed RNA polymerization: Accurate and general RNA-templated
primer extension. Science 292: 1319–1325; Joyce GF. (2002) The antiquity of
RNA-based evolution. Nature 418: 214–221; Lincoln TA, Joyce GF. (2009)
Self-sustained replication of an RNA enzyme. Science 323: 1229–1232; Ferretti
AC, Joyce GF. (2013) Kinetic properties of an RNA enzyme that undergoes
self-sustained exponential amplification. Biochemistry 52: 1227–1235.


  1. Ferris JP. (2006) Montmorillonite-catalysed formation of RNA oligomers:
    The possible role of catalysis in the origins of life. Philos Trans R Soc Lond
    B361: 1777–1786.

  2. Costanzo G, Pino S, Ciciriello F, Di Mauro E. (2009) Generation of long
    RNA chains in water. J Biol Chem 284: 33206–33216.

  3. Meinert C, Myrgorodska I, de Marcellus P, et al. (2016) Ribose and related
    sugars from ultraviolet irradiation of interstellar ice analogs. Science 352:
    208–212.

  4. Ricardo A, Carrigan MA, Olcott AN, Benner SA. (2004) Borate minerals
    stabilize ribose. Science 303: 196.

  5. Shapiro R. (1999) Prebiotic cytosine synthesis: A critical analysis and impli-
    cations for the origin of life. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96: 4396–4401.

  6. Fuller WD, Sanchez RA, Orgel LE. (1972) Studies in prebiotic synth-
    esis VI. Synthesis of purine nucleosides. J Mol Biol 67: 25–33; Fuller WD,
    Sanchez RA, Orgel LE. (1972) Studies in prebiotic synthesis. VII Solid-
    state synthesis of purine nucleosides. J Mol Evol 1: 249–257; Orgel LE.
    (2004) Prebiotic chemistry and the origin of the RNA world. Crit Rev Bio
    chem Mol Biol 39: 99–123.

  7. Sutherland’s method synthesized cytosine ribonucleotide by the following
    steps. Cyanamide was reacted with glycolaldehyde to obtain 2-amino-oxazole.
    The latter was added to glyceraldehyde to yield the pentose amino-oxazolines
    including the arabinose derivative. The arabinose amino-oxazoline was then
    reacted with cyanoacetylene to give the anhydroarabinonucleoside, which
    was then phosphorylated to yield ß-ribocytidine-2′,3′-cyclic phosphate, an
    activated ribonucleotide needed for RNA synthesis. The corresponding ura-
    cil nucleotide was subsequently converted from the cytosine nucleotide by
    ultraviolet irradiation. See: Powner MW, Gerland B, Sutherland JD. (2009)

Free download pdf