Photochemically driven redox chemistry induces protocell membrane pearling and division.

ABSTRACT: Prior to the evolution of complex biochemical machinery, the growth and division of simple primitive cells (protocells) must have been driven by environmental factors. We have previously demonstrated two pathways for fatty acid vesicle growth in which initially spherical vesicles grow into long filamentous vesicles; division is then mediated by fluid shear forces. Here we describe a different pathway for division that is independent of external mechanical forces. We show that the illumination of filamentous fatty acid vesicles containing either a fluorescent dye in the encapsulated aqueous phase, or hydroxypyrene in the membrane, rapidly induces pearling and subsequent division in the presence of thiols. The mechanism of this photochemically driven pathway most likely involves the generati

SUBMITTER: Zhu TF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3382484 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature