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. 1996 Jan 23;93(2):839–844. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.2.839

How the first biopolymers could have evolved.

V I Abkevich 1, A M Gutin 1, E I Shakhnovich 1
PMCID: PMC40144  PMID: 8570645

Abstract

In this work, we discuss a possible origin of the first biopolymers with stable unique structures. We suggest that at the prebiotic stage of evolution, long organic polymers had to be compact to avoid hydrolysis and had to be soluble and thus must not be exceedingly hydrophobic. We present an algorithm that generates such sequences for model proteins. The evolved sequences turn out to have a stable unique structure, into which they quickly fold. This result illustrates the idea that the unique three-dimensional native structures of first biopolymers could have evolved as a side effect of nonspecific physicochemical factors acting at the prebiotic stage of evolution.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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