Self-description and the origin of the genetic code

被引:14
作者
Bedian, V [1 ]
机构
[1] Pfizer Inc, Global Res & Dev, Groton, CT 06340 USA
关键词
aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase; coded system; origin of genetic code; protocell; self-describing system;
D O I
10.1016/S0303-2647(01)00106-X
中图分类号
Q [生物科学];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
The genetic code presents an important conceptual challenge within the broader context of the origin of life. Translation of genetic information captures a fundamental property of living systems, i.e. the ability of decoding proteins (e.g. aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases) to reproduce themselves from self-contained RNA/DNA descriptors. Silvano Colombano and I, as graduate students with Howard Pattee in the 1970s. focused on achieving this closure of self-description and self-reproduction in the genetic code. Simulation and analysis of competitive models that allowed alternate code assignments, exploring initial conditions, arbitrary descriptor-catalyst relalionships, and degree of non-linearity, indicated that these dynamical systems undergo bifurcations, transforming initial ambiguous stable states to unstable states. New, stable, steady states, progressively closer to a code, became available as the descriptor parameters were varied. The efficiency of utilization of raw materials for the production of a coding family of catalysts is proposed as a selection criterion that drives such systems towards a coded state. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:39 / 47
页数:9
相关论文
共 12 条