Abstract
Coenzymes are often considered as remnants of primordial metabolism, but not as hereditary molecules. I suggest that coenzyme-like molecules (CLMs) performed hereditary functions before the emergence of nucleic acids. Autocatalytic CLMs modified (encoded) surface properties of hydrocarbon microspheres, to which they were anchored, and these changes enhanced autocatalysis and propagation of CLMs. Heredity started from a single kind of self-reproducing CLM, and then evolved into more complex coenzyme autocatalytic networks containing multiple kinds of CLMs. Polymerization of CLMs on the surface of microspheres and development of template-based synthesis is a potential evolutionary path towards the emergence of nucleic acids.
Highlights
Evidence that molecular components of a living cell can be synthesized abiotically is no longer sufficient for a scenario of the origin of life because combinations of these components can never make a functioning and evolving living organism
Nucleotides were optimized for reliable storage and replication of genetic information, it is reasonable to expect that they emerged as a product of a long adaptive evolution [3]
According to Wächtershäuser, fatty acids and lipids are synthesized as by-products of surface metabolism, which is supported by carbon fixation [10]
Summary
Evidence that molecular components of a living cell can be synthesized abiotically is no longer sufficient for a scenario of the origin of life because combinations of these components can never make a functioning and evolving living organism. In this paper I follow the general approach of Copley et al [3] and Wächtershäuser [10] by assuming that metabolism and coding emerged simultaneously and started from simple non-polymeric molecules capable of autocatalysis In this context, I elaborate the notion of coding, which is the essential property of life. Autocatalysis ensured heredity (i.e., self-production of CEs), whereas heterocatalysis supported the encoded function (e.g., modification of surface properties of the microsphere) Such systems, which I call “coenzyme world”, are simple enough to emerge spontaneously, they do not require any advanced organic molecules as resources, and can be viewed as predecessors of more complex organisms with polymerized CEs capable of template copying
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