Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution

Abstract The origin-of-life problem has been traditionally conceived as the chemical challenge to find the type of molecule and free-solution reaction dynamics that could have started Darwinian evolution. Different autocatalytic and ‘self-replicative’ molecular species have been extensively investig...

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Autores principales:	Gabriel Piedrafita, Pierre-Alain Monnard, Fabio Mavelli, Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ae7f13ef328746e0a61dd268581f46d2
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ae7f13ef328746e0a61dd268581f46d22021-12-02T11:40:45ZPermeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution10.1038/s41598-017-02799-62045-2322https://doaj.org/article/ae7f13ef328746e0a61dd268581f46d22017-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02799-6https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The origin-of-life problem has been traditionally conceived as the chemical challenge to find the type of molecule and free-solution reaction dynamics that could have started Darwinian evolution. Different autocatalytic and ‘self-replicative’ molecular species have been extensively investigated, together with plausible synthetic pathways that might have led, abiotically, to such a minimalist scenario. However, in addition to molecular kinetics or molecular evolutionary dynamics, other physical and chemical constraints (like compartmentalization, differential diffusion, selective transport, osmotic forces, energetic couplings) could have been crucial for the cohesion, functional integration, and intrinsic stability/robustness of intermediate systems between chemistry and biology. These less acknowledged mechanisms of interaction and molecular control might have made the initial pathways to prebiotic systems evolution more intricate, but were surely essential for sustaining far-from-equilibrium chemical dynamics, given their functional relevance in all modern cells. Here we explore a protocellular scenario in which some of those additional constraints/mechanisms are addressed, demonstrating their ‘system-level’ implications. In particular, an experimental study on the permeability of prebiotic vesicle membranes composed of binary lipid mixtures allows us to construct a semi-empirical model where protocells are able to reproduce and undergo an evolutionary process based on their coupling with an internal chemistry that supports lipid synthesis.Gabriel PiedrafitaPierre-Alain MonnardFabio MavelliKepa Ruiz-MirazoNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Gabriel Piedrafita Pierre-Alain Monnard Fabio Mavelli Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution
description	Abstract The origin-of-life problem has been traditionally conceived as the chemical challenge to find the type of molecule and free-solution reaction dynamics that could have started Darwinian evolution. Different autocatalytic and ‘self-replicative’ molecular species have been extensively investigated, together with plausible synthetic pathways that might have led, abiotically, to such a minimalist scenario. However, in addition to molecular kinetics or molecular evolutionary dynamics, other physical and chemical constraints (like compartmentalization, differential diffusion, selective transport, osmotic forces, energetic couplings) could have been crucial for the cohesion, functional integration, and intrinsic stability/robustness of intermediate systems between chemistry and biology. These less acknowledged mechanisms of interaction and molecular control might have made the initial pathways to prebiotic systems evolution more intricate, but were surely essential for sustaining far-from-equilibrium chemical dynamics, given their functional relevance in all modern cells. Here we explore a protocellular scenario in which some of those additional constraints/mechanisms are addressed, demonstrating their ‘system-level’ implications. In particular, an experimental study on the permeability of prebiotic vesicle membranes composed of binary lipid mixtures allows us to construct a semi-empirical model where protocells are able to reproduce and undergo an evolutionary process based on their coupling with an internal chemistry that supports lipid synthesis.
format	article
author	Gabriel Piedrafita Pierre-Alain Monnard Fabio Mavelli Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
author_facet	Gabriel Piedrafita Pierre-Alain Monnard Fabio Mavelli Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
author_sort	Gabriel Piedrafita
title	Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution
title_short	Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution
title_full	Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution
title_fullStr	Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution
title_full_unstemmed	Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution
title_sort	permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/ae7f13ef328746e0a61dd268581f46d2
work_keys_str_mv	AT gabrielpiedrafita permeabilitydrivenselectioninasemiempiricalprotocellmodeltherootsofprebioticsystemsevolution AT pierrealainmonnard permeabilitydrivenselectioninasemiempiricalprotocellmodeltherootsofprebioticsystemsevolution AT fabiomavelli permeabilitydrivenselectioninasemiempiricalprotocellmodeltherootsofprebioticsystemsevolution AT keparuizmirazo permeabilitydrivenselectioninasemiempiricalprotocellmodeltherootsofprebioticsystemsevolution
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Permeability-driven selection in a semi-empirical protocell model: the roots of prebiotic systems evolution

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