Abstract
High-temperature origin-of-life theories require that the components of the first genetic material are stable. We therefore have measured the half- lives for the decomposition of the nucleobases. They have been found to be short on the geologic time scale. At 100°C, the growth temperatures of the hyperthermophiles, the half-lives are too short to allow for the adequate accumulation of these compounds (t( 1/4 ) for A and G ≃ 1 yr; U = 12 yr; C = 19 days). Therefore, unless the origin of life took place extremely rapidly (< 100 yr), we conclude that a high-temperature origin of life may be possible, but it cannot involve adenine, uracil, guanine, or cytosine. The rates of hydrolysis at 100°C also suggest that an ocean-boiling asteroid impact would reset the prebiotic clock, requiring prebiotic synthetic processes to begin again. At 0°C, A, U, G, and T appear to be sufficiently stable (t(1/2) ≤ 106 yr) to be involved in a low-temperature origin of life. However, the lack of stability of cytosine at 0°C °(t(1/2) = 17,000 yr) raises the possibility that the GC base pair may not have been used in the first genetic material unless life arose quickly (<106 yr) after a sterilization event. A two-letter code or an alternative base pair may have been used instead.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7933-7938 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 7 1998 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Chemical evolution
- Nucleobase hydrolysis
- RNA world
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics
- General
Cite this
The stability of the RNA bases : Implications for the origin of life. / Levy, Matthew; Miller, Stanley L.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 95, No. 14, 07.07.1998, p. 7933-7938.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The stability of the RNA bases
T2 - Implications for the origin of life
AU - Levy, Matthew
AU - Miller, Stanley L.
PY - 1998/7/7
Y1 - 1998/7/7
N2 - High-temperature origin-of-life theories require that the components of the first genetic material are stable. We therefore have measured the half- lives for the decomposition of the nucleobases. They have been found to be short on the geologic time scale. At 100°C, the growth temperatures of the hyperthermophiles, the half-lives are too short to allow for the adequate accumulation of these compounds (t( 1/4 ) for A and G ≃ 1 yr; U = 12 yr; C = 19 days). Therefore, unless the origin of life took place extremely rapidly (< 100 yr), we conclude that a high-temperature origin of life may be possible, but it cannot involve adenine, uracil, guanine, or cytosine. The rates of hydrolysis at 100°C also suggest that an ocean-boiling asteroid impact would reset the prebiotic clock, requiring prebiotic synthetic processes to begin again. At 0°C, A, U, G, and T appear to be sufficiently stable (t(1/2) ≤ 106 yr) to be involved in a low-temperature origin of life. However, the lack of stability of cytosine at 0°C °(t(1/2) = 17,000 yr) raises the possibility that the GC base pair may not have been used in the first genetic material unless life arose quickly (<106 yr) after a sterilization event. A two-letter code or an alternative base pair may have been used instead.
AB - High-temperature origin-of-life theories require that the components of the first genetic material are stable. We therefore have measured the half- lives for the decomposition of the nucleobases. They have been found to be short on the geologic time scale. At 100°C, the growth temperatures of the hyperthermophiles, the half-lives are too short to allow for the adequate accumulation of these compounds (t( 1/4 ) for A and G ≃ 1 yr; U = 12 yr; C = 19 days). Therefore, unless the origin of life took place extremely rapidly (< 100 yr), we conclude that a high-temperature origin of life may be possible, but it cannot involve adenine, uracil, guanine, or cytosine. The rates of hydrolysis at 100°C also suggest that an ocean-boiling asteroid impact would reset the prebiotic clock, requiring prebiotic synthetic processes to begin again. At 0°C, A, U, G, and T appear to be sufficiently stable (t(1/2) ≤ 106 yr) to be involved in a low-temperature origin of life. However, the lack of stability of cytosine at 0°C °(t(1/2) = 17,000 yr) raises the possibility that the GC base pair may not have been used in the first genetic material unless life arose quickly (<106 yr) after a sterilization event. A two-letter code or an alternative base pair may have been used instead.
KW - Chemical evolution
KW - Nucleobase hydrolysis
KW - RNA world
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032493439&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0032493439&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.95.14.7933
DO - 10.1073/pnas.95.14.7933
M3 - Article
VL - 95
SP - 7933
EP - 7938
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 14
ER -