Experimental Test of L- and D-Amino Acid Binding to L- and D-Codons Suggests that Homochirality and Codon Directionality Emerged with the Genetic Code

Symmetry

关键词: homochirality;    origin of genetic code;    codon;    amino acid;    chiral binding;    molecular complementarity;    origin of life;    selectivity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/sym2021180

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

L-amino acids bind preferentially to their D-codons, but almost nothing is known about whether D-amino acids correspondingly prefer L-codons, or how codon directionality affects amino acid binding. To investigate these issues, two D-RNA-oligonucleotides having inverse base sequences (D-CGUA and D-AUGC) and their corresponding L-RNA-oligonucleotides (L-CGUA and L-AUGC) were synthesized and their affinity determined for Gly and eleven pairs of L- and D-amino acids. The data support the hypothesis (Root-Bernstein, Bioessays 2007; 29: 689–698) that homochirality and codon directionality emerged as a function of the origin of the genetic code itself. Further tests involving amplification methods are proposed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
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