The Origin of Life: Chemical Evolution of a Metabolic System in a Mineral Honeycomb?
The Origin of Life: Chemical Evolution of a Metabolic System in a Mineral Honeycomb?
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DOI：
10.1007/s00239-009-9278-6
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发表时间：
2009-11-01
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Czaran, Tamas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Branciamore, Sergio;Gallori, Enzo;Czaran, Tamas
为了使rna世界假说在生态学上是可行的，需要调用作用于复制子群落的选择机制，并指定相应的分子进化情景。在我们之前的矿物表面化学演化模型中，选择是附着在表面的大分子的有限流动性的结果，在这里，我们提供了另一种实现益生元群体水平选择的方法：将局部复制子群落物理封装到矿物基质的孔隙中。基于细胞自动机模拟，我们认为在矿物蜂窝中，群体选择的效果可能足够有效，使不同特异性和复制速率的益生元核酶共存，它们的代谢合作保护了广泛的分子寄生。我们认为，在代谢系统中持续存在的轻度寄生虫的突变体可以获得有用的功能，如复制酶活性或膜成分的产生，从而为地球上第一个自主原始细胞的进化开辟了道路。
For the RNA-world hypothesis to be ecologically feasible, selection mechanisms acting on replicator communities need to be invoked and the corresponding scenarios of molecular evolution specified. Complementing our previous models of chemical evolution on mineral surfaces, in which selection was the consequence of the limited mobility of macromolecules attached to the surface, here we offer an alternative realization of prebiotic group-level selection: the physical encapsulation of local replicator communities into the pores of the mineral substrate. Based on cellular automaton simulations we argue that the effect of group selection in a mineral honeycomb could have been efficient enough to keep prebiotic ribozymes of different specificities and replication rates coexistent, and their metabolic cooperation protected from extensive molecular parasitism. We suggest that mutants of the mild parasites persistent in the metabolic system can acquire useful functions such as replicase activity or the production of membrane components, thus opening the way for the evolution of the first autonomous protocells on Earth.