Abstract
The availability of nucleotides on the early Earth is of great significance for the origin of a self-replicating system capable of undergoing evolution. We hereby report the successful phosphorylation reactions of the nucleoside uridine under heating in the “drying pool” prebiotic model at temperatures ranging from 60–75 °C, and by using pyrophosphate as a phosphorylation agent. Uridine monophosphates (UMP) such as uridine-5′-monophosphate (5′-UMP), 2′-UMP, and 3′-UMP, as well as cyclic 2′-3′-UMP, were identified by 31P-NMR. In addition to the above-mentioned products, a dimer of uridine-phosphate-uridine (U-P-U) was also observed. The reactions were promoted by white quartz sand, Mg2+, and by using urea as a condensation agent. The reactions also proceeded without this mixture; however, the yields increased remarkably with the presence of the above-mentioned materials. The results suggest that a hot/evaporating-drying pool of water containing organics, salts, and reactive phosphorus could be sufficient to form significant phosphate esters.
Funder
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Subject
Paleontology,Space and Planetary Science,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
17 articles.
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