Non-associative phase separation in an evaporating droplet as a model for prebiotic compartmentalization

Nat Commun. 2021 May 27;12(1):3194. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23410-7.

Abstract

The synthetic pathways of life's building blocks are envisaged to be through a series of complex prebiotic reactions and processes. However, the strategy to compartmentalize and concentrate biopolymers under prebiotic conditions remains elusive. Liquid-liquid phase separation is a mechanism by which membraneless organelles form inside cells, and has been hypothesized as a potential mechanism for prebiotic compartmentalization. Associative phase separation of oppositely charged species has been shown to partition RNA, but the strongly negative charge exhibited by RNA suggests that RNA-polycation interactions could inhibit RNA folding and its functioning inside the coacervates. Here, we present a prebiotically plausible pathway for non-associative phase separation within an evaporating all-aqueous sessile droplet. We quantitatively investigate the kinetic pathway of phase separation triggered by the non-uniform evaporation rate, together with the Marangoni flow-driven hydrodynamics inside the sessile droplet. With the ability to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation, the drying droplets provide a robust mechanism for formation of prebiotic membraneless compartments, as demonstrated by localization and storage of nucleic acids, in vitro transcription, as well as a three-fold enhancement of ribozyme activity. The compartmentalization mechanism illustrated in this model system is feasible on wet organophilic silica-rich surfaces during early molecular evolution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aptamers, Nucleotide / chemistry
  • Biopolymers / chemistry*
  • DNA / chemistry
  • DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / metabolism
  • Enzyme Assays
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Kinetics
  • Origin of Life*
  • Polyelectrolytes / chemistry
  • RNA / biosynthesis
  • RNA / chemistry*
  • RNA Folding
  • RNA, Catalytic / metabolism
  • Transcription, Genetic
  • Viral Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Aptamers, Nucleotide
  • Biopolymers
  • Polyelectrolytes
  • RNA, Catalytic
  • Viral Proteins
  • polycations
  • RNA
  • DNA
  • bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase
  • DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases