Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 30: Symposium SYOL: Origin of Life (with CPP and DY)

BP 30.1: Invited Talk

Friday, March 30, 2012, 09:30–10:00, H 0105

From sequence to function: Random polymerization and modular evolution of RNA — •Susanna C. Manrubia — Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain

A main unsolved problem in the RNA World scenario for the origin of life is how a template-dependent RNA polymerase ribozyme emerged from short RNA oligomers obtained by random polymerization on mineral surfaces. A number of computational studies have shown that the structural repertoire yielded by that process is dominated by topologically simple structures, notably hairpin-like ones [1]. A fraction of these could display RNA ligase activity and catalyze the assembly of larger, eventually functional RNA molecules retaining their previous modular structure: molecular complexity increases but template replication is absent [2]. This allows us to build up a stepwise model of ligation-based, modular evolution that could pave the way to the emergence of a ribozyme with RNA replicase activity, step at which information-driven Darwinian evolution would be triggered.

[1] Stich, M., Briones, C. and Manrubia, S. C. (2008) On the structural repertoire of pools of short, random RNA sequences. Journal of Theoretical Biology 252, 750

[2] Briones, C., Stich, M. and Manrubia, S. C. (2009) The dawn of the RNA world: Towards functional complexity through ligation of random RNA oligomers. RNA 15, 743