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Below is the abstract (and link) to an online paper in the latest issue of The Journal of Molecular Evolution. I thought its title interesting in the light of a certain assertion that the multiple codes in DNA cannot be explained by naturalistic means, (as if that somehow meant that a certain supernatural claim therefore explains this phenomenon, with said explanation never being provided beyond hints that a person will end up in hell for thinking otherwise).
RNA has a myriad of biological roles in contemporary life. We use the RNA paradigm for genotype-phenotype mappings to study the evolution of multiple coding in dependence to mutation rates. We study three different one-to-many genotype-phenotype mappings which have the potential to encode the information for multiple functions on a single sequence. These three different maps are (i) cofolding, where two sequences can bind and “cofold,” (ii) suboptimal folding, where the alternative foldings within a certain range of the native state of sequences are considered, and (iii) adapter-based folding, in which protocells can evolve adapter-mediated alternative foldings. We study how protocells with a set of sequences can code for a set of predefined functional structures, while avoiding all other structures, which are considered to be misfoldings. Note that such misfolded structures are far more prevalent than functional ones. Our results highlight the flexibility of the RNA sequence to secondary structure mapping and the power of evolution to shape the genotype-phenotype mapping. We show that high fitness can be achieved even at high mutation rates. Mutation rates affect genome size, but differently depending on which folding method is used. We observe that cofolding limits the possibility to avoid misfolded structures and that adapters are always beneficial for fitness, but even more beneficial at low mutation rates. In all cases, the evolution procedure selects for molecules that can form additional structures. Our results indicate that inherent properties of RNA molecules and their interactions allow the evolution of complexity even at high mutation rates.
The December issue of the journal is devoted to the early evolution of life.
Another open access article deals with the development of a hydrothermal vent simulator:-
” Chemiosmotic coupling is universal: practically all cells harness electrochemical proton gradients across membranes to drive ATP synthesis, powering biochemistry. Autotrophic cells, including phototrophs and chemolithotrophs, also use proton gradients to power carbon fixation directly. The universality of chemiosmotic coupling suggests that it arose very early in evolution, but its origins are obscure. Alkaline hydrothermal systems sustain natural proton gradients across the thin inorganic barriers of interconnected micropores within deep-sea vents. In Hadean oceans, these inorganic barriers should have contained catalytic Fe(Ni)S minerals similar in structure to cofactors in modern metabolic enzymes, suggesting a possible abiotic origin of chemiosmotic coupling. The continuous supply of H2 and CO2 from vent fluids and early oceans, respectively, offers further parallels with the biochemistry of ancient autotrophic cells, notably the acetyl CoA pathway in archaea and bacteria. However, the precise mechanisms by which natural proton gradients, H2, CO2 and metal sulphides could have driven organic synthesis are uncertain, and theoretical ideas lack empirical support. We have built a simple electrochemical reactor to simulate conditions in alkaline hydrothermal vents, allowing investigation of the possibility that abiotic vent chemistry could prefigure the origins of biochemistry. We discuss the construction and testing of the reactor, describing the precipitation of thin-walled, inorganic structures containing nickel-doped mackinawite, a catalytic Fe(Ni)S mineral, under prebiotic ocean conditions. These simulated vent structures appear to generate low yields of simple organics. Synthetic microporous matrices can concentrate organics by thermophoresis over several orders of magnitude under continuous open-flow vent conditions.”
Clicking on the links above will take the reader to the abstracts. From there the online papers can be accessed.
RNA has a myriad of biological roles in contemporary life. We use the RNA paradigm for genotype-phenotype mappings to study the evolution of multiple coding in dependence to mutation rates. We study three different one-to-many genotype-phenotype mappings which have the potential to encode the information for multiple functions on a single sequence. These three different maps are (i) cofolding, where two sequences can bind and “cofold,” (ii) suboptimal folding, where the alternative foldings within a certain range of the native state of sequences are considered, and (iii) adapter-based folding, in which protocells can evolve adapter-mediated alternative foldings. We study how protocells with a set of sequences can code for a set of predefined functional structures, while avoiding all other structures, which are considered to be misfoldings. Note that such misfolded structures are far more prevalent than functional ones. Our results highlight the flexibility of the RNA sequence to secondary structure mapping and the power of evolution to shape the genotype-phenotype mapping. We show that high fitness can be achieved even at high mutation rates. Mutation rates affect genome size, but differently depending on which folding method is used. We observe that cofolding limits the possibility to avoid misfolded structures and that adapters are always beneficial for fitness, but even more beneficial at low mutation rates. In all cases, the evolution procedure selects for molecules that can form additional structures. Our results indicate that inherent properties of RNA molecules and their interactions allow the evolution of complexity even at high mutation rates.
The December issue of the journal is devoted to the early evolution of life.
Another open access article deals with the development of a hydrothermal vent simulator:-
” Chemiosmotic coupling is universal: practically all cells harness electrochemical proton gradients across membranes to drive ATP synthesis, powering biochemistry. Autotrophic cells, including phototrophs and chemolithotrophs, also use proton gradients to power carbon fixation directly. The universality of chemiosmotic coupling suggests that it arose very early in evolution, but its origins are obscure. Alkaline hydrothermal systems sustain natural proton gradients across the thin inorganic barriers of interconnected micropores within deep-sea vents. In Hadean oceans, these inorganic barriers should have contained catalytic Fe(Ni)S minerals similar in structure to cofactors in modern metabolic enzymes, suggesting a possible abiotic origin of chemiosmotic coupling. The continuous supply of H2 and CO2 from vent fluids and early oceans, respectively, offers further parallels with the biochemistry of ancient autotrophic cells, notably the acetyl CoA pathway in archaea and bacteria. However, the precise mechanisms by which natural proton gradients, H2, CO2 and metal sulphides could have driven organic synthesis are uncertain, and theoretical ideas lack empirical support. We have built a simple electrochemical reactor to simulate conditions in alkaline hydrothermal vents, allowing investigation of the possibility that abiotic vent chemistry could prefigure the origins of biochemistry. We discuss the construction and testing of the reactor, describing the precipitation of thin-walled, inorganic structures containing nickel-doped mackinawite, a catalytic Fe(Ni)S mineral, under prebiotic ocean conditions. These simulated vent structures appear to generate low yields of simple organics. Synthetic microporous matrices can concentrate organics by thermophoresis over several orders of magnitude under continuous open-flow vent conditions.”
Clicking on the links above will take the reader to the abstracts. From there the online papers can be accessed.