Nucleotide Selectivity in Abiotic RNA Polymerization Reactions.

ABSTRACT: In order to establish an RNA world on early Earth, the nucleotides must form polymers through chemical rather than biochemical reactions. The polymerization products must be long enough to perform catalytic functions, including self-replication, and to preserve genetic information. These functions depend not only on the length of the polymers, but also on their sequences. To date, studies of abiotic RNA polymerization generally have focused on routes to polymerization of a single nucleotide and lengths of the homopolymer products. Less work has been done the selectivity of the reaction toward incorporation of some nucleotides over others in nucleotide mixtures. Such information is an essential step toward understanding the chemical evolution of RNA. To address this question, in the present

SUBMITTER: Coari KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5664167 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature