The Ribosome Challenge to the RNA World
Abstract
An RNA World that predated the modern world of polypeptide and polynucleotide is one of the most widely accepted models in origin of life research. In this model, the translation system shepherded the RNA World into the extant biology of DNA, RNA, and protein. Here, we examine the RNA World Hypothesis in the context of increasingly detailed information available about the origins, evolution, functions, and mechanisms of the translation system. We conclude that the translation system presents critical challenges to RNA World Hypotheses. Firstly, a timeline of the RNA World is problematic when the ribosome is incorporated. The mechanism of peptidyl transfer of the ribosome appears distinct from evolved enzymes, signaling origins in a chemical rather than biological milieu. Secondly, we have no evidence that the basic biochemical toolset of life is subject to substantive change by Darwinian evolution, as required for the transition from the RNA world to extant biology. Thirdly, we do not see specific evidence for biological takeover of ribozyme function by protein enzymes. Finally, we can find no basis for preservation of the ribosome as ribozyme or the universality of translation, if it were the case that other information transducing ribozymes, such as ribozyme polymerases, were replaced by protein analogs and erased from the phylogenetic record. We suggest that an updated model of the RNA World should address the current state of knowledge of the translation system.
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The ribosome may have first originated in a peptide/RNA world, where both amino acids and a variety of enzymes were available.
“In recent times, the role of proteins in the origin of ribosomes is gaining currency, implying that the ribosome may have first originated in a peptide/RNA world, where both amino acids and a variety of enzymes were available [9,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,92].”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [21]
In the peptide/RNA world, peptides should have been part of the very first steps in the establishment of the genetic code.
“In the peptide/RNA world, the peptides should have been part of the very first steps in the establishment of the genetic code [19,21,23].”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [21]
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- Authors
- Bowman, J. C., Hud, N. V., & Williams, L. D.
- Affiliations
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Williams, Loren Dean
- Venue
- Journal of Molecular Evolution
- Published
- 2015-03-05
- Volume
- 80
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 143-161
- ISSN
- 0022-2844 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1432
- OpenAlex
- W2012818031
- Cited by
- 99
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 0.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Molecular Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Keywords
- RNA world, origin of life, ribosome, translation systems, peptidyl transfer, ribozymes, Darwinian evolution, prebiotic chemistry
- MeSH terms
- Biopolymers, Escherichia coli, Phylogeny, Protein Conformation, Ribosomes, RNA, RNA, Messenger, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, RNA, Catalytic, Evolution, Molecular, Computational Biology
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