Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Origin and Evolution of Self-Replicating Polymers on Mineral Habitats

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Genesis - In The Beginning

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 22))

Abstract

Molecules which store genetic information, DNA and RNA, are central to all life forms on Earth. The building of these complex molecules, and ultimately life, required specific conditions, including the synthesis and concentration of precursors (nucleotides), the joining of these monomers into larger molecules (polynucleotides), their protection in critical environmental conditions, like those probably existing in ancestral habitats, and the expression of the biological potential of the molecules, i.e., their capacity to self-replicate and evolve.

It has long been proposed that mineral surfaces, i.e., clay minerals, could have played a crucial role in the origin and evolution of genetic molecules.

In this chapter, we discuss results obtained in different fields that strengthen the hypothesis of a clay-surface-mediated origin of the genetic material.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bada JL, Lazcano A (2002) Origin of life. Some like it hot, but not the first biomolecules. Science 296:1982–1983

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bernal JD (1951) The physical basis of life. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Biondi E, Branciamore S, Maurel MC, Gallori E (2007a) Montmorillonite protection of an UV-irradiated hairpin ribozyme: evolution of the RNA world in a mineral environment. BMC Evol Biol 7(Suppl 2):S2

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biondi E, Branciamore S, Fusi L, Gago S, Gallori E (2007b) Catalytic activity of hammerhead ribozymes in a clay mineral environment: implications for the RNA world. Gene 389:10–18

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Branciamore S, Gallori E, Szathmary E, Czaran T (2009) The origin of life: chemical evolution of a metabolic system in a mineral honeycomb? J Mol Evol 69:458–469

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chyba C, Sagan C (1992) Endogenous production, exogenous delivery and impact-shock synthesis of organic molecules: an inventory for the origins of life. Nature 355:125–132

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ciaravella A, Scappini F, Franchi M, Cecchi-Pestellini C, Barbera M, Candia R, Gallori E, Micela G (2004) Role of clays in protecting adsorbed DNA against X-ray radiation. Int J Astrobiol 3:31–35

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Czaran T, Szathmary E (2000) Coexistence of replicators in prebiotic evolution. In: Dieckmann U, Law R, Metz J (eds) The geometry of ecological interactions: simplifying spatial complexity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 116–134

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Delaye L, Lazcano A (2005) Prebiological evolution and the physics of the origin of life. Phys Life Rev 2:47–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener TO (2001) The viroid: biological oddity or evolutionary fossil? Adv Virus Res 57:137–184

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Doudna JA, Cech TR (2002) The chemical repertoire of natural ribozymes. Nature 418:222–228

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eigen M (1971) Self-organization of matter and the evolution of biological macromolecules. Naturwissenschaften 58:465–523

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eigen M, Schuster P (1977) The hypercycle. A principle of natural self-organization. Part A: Emergence of the hypercycle. Naturwissenschaften 64:541–565

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ertem G, Ferris JP (1996) Synthesis of RNA oligomers on heterogeneous templates. Nature 379:238–240

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferris JP (2002) Montmorillonite catalysis of 30–50 mer oligonucleotides: laboratory demonstration of potential steps in the origin of the RNA world. Orig Life Evol Biosph 32:311–332

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferris JP, Hagan WJ Jr (1986) The adsorption and reaction of adenine nucleotides on montmorillonite. Orig Life Evol Biosph 17:69–84

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Forster AC, Symons RH (1987) Self-cleavage of plus and minus RNAs of a virusoid and a structural model for the active sites. Cell 49:211–220

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franchi M, Gallori E (2005) A surface-mediated origin of the RNA world: biogenic activities of clay-adsorbed RNA molecules. Gene 346:205–214

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franchi M, Bramanti E, Bonzi LM, Orioli PL, Vettori C, Gallori E (1999) Clay-nucleic acid complexes: characteristics and implications for the preservation of genetic material in primeval habitats. Orig Life Evol Biosph 29:297–315

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franchi M, Ferris JP, Gallori E (2003) Cations as mediators of the adsorption of nucleic acids on clay surfaces in prebiotic environments. Orig Life Evol Biosph 33:1–16

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gallori E, Bazzicalupo M, Dal Canto L, Fani R, Nannipieri P, Vettori C, Stotzky G (1994) Transformation of Bacillus subtilis by DNA-bound on clay in nonsterile soil. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 15:119–126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ganti T (2003) Chemoton theory: theory of living systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang WH, Ferris JP (2003) Synthesis of 35–40 mers of RNA oligomers from unblocked monomers. A simple approach to the RNA world. Chem Commun 12:1458–1459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joyce GF (2002) The antiquity of RNA-based evolution. Nature 418:214–221

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Konnyu B, Czaran T, Szathmary E (2008) Prebiotic replicase evolution in a surface-bound metabolic system: parasites as a source of adaptive evolution. BMC Evol Biol 8:267

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koonin EV, Martin W (2005) On the origin of genomes and cells within inorganic compartments. Trends Genet 21:647–654

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin B (2007) Genes IX. Jones & Barlett Learning, Sudbury

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin W, Russell MJ (2003) On the origins of cells: a hypothesis for the evolutionary transitions from abiotic geochemistry to chemoautotrophic prokaryotes, and from prokaryotes to nucleated cells. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 358:59–83; discussion 83–55

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin W, Baross J, Kelley D, Russell MJ (2008) Hydrothermal vents and the origin of life. Nat Rev Microbiol 6:805–814

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martins Z, Botta O, Fogel ML, Sephton MA, Glavin DP, Watson JS, Dworkin JP, Schwartz AW, Ehrenfreund P (2008) Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite. Earth Planet Sci Lett 270:130–136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mathew DC, Luthey-Schulten Z (2010) Influence of montmorillonite on nucleotide oligomerization reactions: a molecular dynamics study. Orig Life Evol Biosph 40:303–317

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meli M, Vergne J, Maurel MC (2003) In vitro selection of adenine-dependent hairpin ribozymes. J Biol Chem 278:9835–9842

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monnard PA (2005) Catalysis in abiotic structured media: an approach to selective synthesis of biopolymers. Cell Mol Life Sci 62:520–534

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nisbet EG, Sleep NH (2001) The habitat and nature of early life. Nature 409:1083–1091

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Orgel LE (2004) Prebiotic chemistry and the origin of the RNA world. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol 39:99–123

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pace NR (1991) Origin of life-facing up to the physical setting. Cell 65:531–533

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons I, Lee MR, Smith JV (1998) Biochemical evolution II: origin of life in tubular microstructures on weathered feldspar surfaces. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 95:15173–15176

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pitsch S, Eschenmoser A, Gedulin B, Hui S, Arrhenius G (1995) Mineral induced formation of sugar phosphates. Orig Life Evol Biosph 25:297–334

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pizzarello S, Huang Y, Alexandre MR (2008) Molecular asymmetry in extraterrestrial chemistry: insights from a pristine meteorite. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:3700–3704

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rajamani S, Vlassov A, Benner S, Coombs A, Olasagasti F, Deamer D (2008) Lipid-assisted synthesis of RNA-like polymers from mononucleotides. Orig Life Evol Biosph 38:57–74

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saladino R, Crestini C, Ciambecchini U, Ciciriello F, Costanzo G, Di Mauro E (2004) Synthesis and degradation of nucleobases and nucleic acids by formamide in the presence of montmorillonites. Chembiochem 5:1558–1566

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scappini F, Casadei F, Zamboni R, Franchi M, Gallori E, Monti S (2004) Protective effect of clay minerals on adsorbed nucleic acid against UV radiation: possible role in the origin of life. Int J Astrobiol 3:17–19

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheuring I, Czaran T, Szabo P, Karolyi G, Toroczkai Z (2003) Spatial models of prebiotic evolution: soup before pizza? Orig Life Evol Biosph 33:319–355

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JV (1998) Biochemical evolution. I. Polymerization on internal, organophilic silica surfaces of dealuminated zeolites and feldspars. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 95:3370–3375

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JV, Arnold FP Jr, Parsons I, Lee MR (1999) Biochemical evolution III: polymerization on organophilic silica-rich surfaces, crystal-chemical modeling, formation of first cells, and geological clues. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96:3479–3485

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stotzky G, Gallori E, Khanna M (1996) Transformation in soil. In: Akkermans ADL, van Elsas JD, de Brujin FJ (eds) Molecular microbial ecology manual. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Swadling JB, Coveney PV, Greenwell HC (2010) Clay minerals mediate folding and regioselective interactions of RNA: a large-scale atomistic simulation study. J Am Chem Soc 132:13750–13764

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Szathmary E, Demeter L (1987) Group selection of early replicators and the origin of life. J Theor Biol 128:463–486

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takeuchi N, Hogeweg P (2008) Evolution of complexity in RNA-like replicator systems. Biol Direct 3:11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vettori C, Paffetti D, Pietramellara G, Stotzky G, Gallori E (1996) Amplification of bacterial DNA bound on clay minerals by the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 20:251–260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wachtershauser G (1988) Before enzymes and templates: theory of surface metabolism. Microbiol Rev 52:452–484

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Largo E. Fermi 2, 50125, Florence, Italy

    Enzo Gallori & Sergio Branciamore

Authors
  1. Enzo Gallori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sergio Branciamore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Enzo Gallori .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gallori, E., Branciamore, S. (2012). Origin and Evolution of Self-Replicating Polymers on Mineral Habitats. In: Seckbach, J. (eds) Genesis - In The Beginning. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2941-4_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation