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Emergence of Function and Selection from Recursively Programmed Polymerisation Reactions in Mineral Environments.


ABSTRACT: Living systems are characterised by an ability to sustain chemical reaction networks far-from-equilibrium. It is likely that life first arose through a process of continual disruption of equilibrium states in recursive reaction networks, driven by periodic environmental changes. Herein, we report the emergence of proto-enzymatic function from recursive polymerisation reactions using amino acids and glycolic acid. Reactions were kept out of equilibrium by diluting products 9:1 in fresh starting solution at the end of each recursive cycle, and the development of complex high molecular weight species is explored using a new metric, the Mass Index, which allows the complexity of the system to be explored as a function of cycle. This process was carried out on a range of different mineral environments. We explored the hypothesis that disrupting equilibrium via recursive cycling imposes a selection pressure and subsequent boundary conditions on products. After just four reaction cycles, product mixtures from recursive reactions exhibit greater catalytic activity and truncation of product space towards higher-molecular-weight species compared to non-recursive controls.

SUBMITTER: Doran D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6772075 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Emergence of Function and Selection from Recursively Programmed Polymerisation Reactions in Mineral Environments.

Doran David D   Abul-Haija Yousef M YM   Cronin Leroy L  

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) 20190712 33


Living systems are characterised by an ability to sustain chemical reaction networks far-from-equilibrium. It is likely that life first arose through a process of continual disruption of equilibrium states in recursive reaction networks, driven by periodic environmental changes. Herein, we report the emergence of proto-enzymatic function from recursive polymerisation reactions using amino acids and glycolic acid. Reactions were kept out of equilibrium by diluting products 9:1 in fresh starting s  ...[more]

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