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Emergence of native peptide sequences in prebiotic replication networks

Author

Listed:
  • Jayanta Nanda

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
    Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur)

  • Boris Rubinov

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Denis Ivnitski

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Rakesh Mukherjee

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Elina Shtelman

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Yair Motro

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Yifat Miller

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Nathaniel Wagner

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Rivka Cohen-Luria

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Gonen Ashkenasy

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Abstract

Biopolymer syntheses in living cells are perfected by an elaborate error correction machinery, which was not applicable during polymerization on early Earth. Scientists are consequently striving to identify mechanisms by which functional polymers were selected and further amplified from complex prebiotic mixtures. Here we show the instrumental role of non-enzymatic replication in the enrichment of certain product(s). To this end, we analyzed a complex web of reactions in β-sheet peptide networks, focusing on the formation of specific intermediate compounds and template-assisted replication. Remarkably, we find that the formation of several products in a mixture is not critically harmful, since efficient and selective template-assisted reactions serve as a backbone correction mechanism, namely, for keeping the concentration of the peptide containing the native backbone equal to, or even higher than, the concentrations of the other products. We suggest that these findings may shed light on molecular evolution processes that led to current biology.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayanta Nanda & Boris Rubinov & Denis Ivnitski & Rakesh Mukherjee & Elina Shtelman & Yair Motro & Yifat Miller & Nathaniel Wagner & Rivka Cohen-Luria & Gonen Ashkenasy, 2017. "Emergence of native peptide sequences in prebiotic replication networks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-00463-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00463-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Fabian Sauer & Maren Haas & Constanze Sydow & Alexander F. Siegle & Christoph A. Lauer & Oliver Trapp, 2021. "From amino acid mixtures to peptides in liquid sulphur dioxide on early Earth," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Moran Frenkel-Pinter & Marcos Bouza & Facundo M. Fernández & Luke J. Leman & Loren Dean Williams & Nicholas V. Hud & Aikomari Guzman-Martinez, 2022. "Thioesters provide a plausible prebiotic path to proto-peptides," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.

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