Transfer RNA: The molecular demiurge in the origin of biological systems

Sávio Torres de Farias; Marco V José

doi:10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2020.02.006

Transfer RNA: The molecular demiurge in the origin of biological systems

Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2020 Jul:153:28-34. doi: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2020.02.006. Epub 2020 Feb 24.

Authors

Sávio Torres de Farias¹, Marco V José²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratório de Genética Evolutiva Paulo Leminsk, Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil. Electronic address: stfarias@yahoo.com.br.
² Theoretical Biology Group, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México CDMX, C.P. 04510, Mexico. Electronic address: marcojose@biomedicas.unam.mx.

PMID: 32105652
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2020.02.006

Abstract

Herein, we review recent works on the role that the tRNA molecule played in the early origins of biological systems. tRNAs gave origin to the first genes (mRNA), the peptidyl transferase center (PTC), the 16S ribosomal molecule, proto-tRNAs were at the core of a proto-translation system, and the anticodon and operational codes appeared in tRNAs molecules. Metabolic pathways emerged from evolutionary pressures of the decoding systems. The transitions from the RNA world to the ribonucleoprotein world to modern biological systems were driven by two kinds of tRNAs transitions, to wit, tRNAs leading to both mRNA and rRNA.

Keywords: First genes; Molecular evolution; Origin of life; Transfer RNA; Translation system.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Evolution, Molecular*
RNA, Transfer / genetics*

Substances

RNA, Transfer