T108 Geomicrobiology: Microbes as a Geologic Force on Modern and Ancient Earth (Posters)
Monday, 2 November 2015
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
POTENTIAL SYNERGISM AND MUTUALISM IN THE ORIGINS OF LIFE: A ONE-POT EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO NON-ENZYMATIC RNA AND PEPTIDE POLYMERIZATION
Paper number: T108-1
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM
Authors
Abstract
Both RNA mononucleotides and amino acids have been reported to polymerize non-enzymatically on clay minerals into polymers of ~50 and ~10 mers, respectively. Additionally, lipid bilayer was also found to catalyze RNA non-enzymatic polymerization. We (Kaddour and Sahai, 2014) have recently emphasized the hypothesis that RNA and proteins might have co-emerged from a multicomponent soup, and co-evolved. To test this hypothesis, an experimental design, in which mononucleotides and amino acids are co-incubated in the presence of clays and lipids is proposed in this poster. But first, the conceptual basis for this study is presented.