Abstract
This article discusses the hypothesized composition and organization of cytoplasm in prebiotic cells from a theoretical perspective and also based upon what is currently known about bacterial cytoplasm. It is unknown if the first prebiotic, microscopic scale, cytoplasm was initially contained within a primitive, continuous, semipermeable membrane, or was an uncontained gel substance, that later became enclosed by a continuous membrane. Another possibility is that the first cytoplasm in prebiotic cells and a primitive membrane organized at the same time, permitting a rapid transition to the first cell(s) capable of growth and division, thus assisting with the emergence of life on Earth less than a billion years after the formation of the Earth. It is hypothesized that the organization and composition of cytoplasm progressed initially from an unstructured, microscopic hydrogel to a more complex cytoplasm, that may have been in the volume magnitude of about 0.1–0.2 μm3 (possibly less if a nanocell) prior to the first cell division.
Highlights
One of the enigmas in origin of life research is to understand the origin and composition of the first bacterial cytoplasm, genetic instructions, and the emergence of spatially organized [1], energy transducing [2], living bacterial cells capable of growth/division and subsequent evolution [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12].Int
It is known that bacteria have spatial organization [14] including DNA compaction, RNA, cytoskeleton structures, numerous specific cell division proteins and thousands of ribosomes (e.g., 10,000–12,000 per cell and up to 72,000 during rapid exponential growth) present in volumes ranging from about 0.2 to several μm3, depending on the species and environmental growth conditions
The cell volumes depend upon the different species of bacterial cells and their stage of growth, under different and often rapidly changing environmental conditions
Summary
One of the enigmas in origin of life research is to understand the origin and composition of the first bacterial cytoplasm, genetic instructions, and the emergence of spatially organized [1], energy transducing [2], living bacterial cells capable of growth/division and subsequent evolution [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. The origin of the primitive cytoplasm, prebiotic cells and viable bacterial cell(s) would not have required a macro-scale environment if sufficient water, nutrients and environmental conditions were within the ranges suitable for the origin of life at microscopic dimensions (e.g., microns or less) or multiple microscopic locations, possibly even adjacent to each other. The section extends the discussion by trying to understand the composition and organization of the first cytoplasm prior to the origin of the first bacterial cell(s) capable of growth and division
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