| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 1 Special Issue |
www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/3/1/2006/
© Author(s) 2006. This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons License.
The nonenzymatic template-directed ligation of oligonucleotides
Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine SB RAS, Lavrentiev Avenue 8, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
Abstract. The nonenzymatic template-directed ligation of oligonucleotides containing 2',3'-cyclic phosphate was investigated in the presence of divalent cations. Ligation of the oligonucleotides readily occurred in the presence of Mg2+, Mn2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Pb2+. Efficacy of the metal ion catalysts inversely correlated with pKa values of the metal-bound water molecules. The intermolecular transesterification reaction yielded at least 95% of 2',5'-phosphodiester bonds independently on the nature of the metal ion. Relatively high reaction yields (up to 15%) suggest, that RNA fragmentation to oligonucleotides with 2',3'-cyclic phosphates, followed by reactions of those oligonucleotides could provide a source of new RNA molecules under prebiotic conditions.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 823 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 2 Comments) Final Revised Paper (BG)
Citation: Lutay, A.V., Chernolovskaya, E. L., Zenkova, M. A., and Vlasso, V. V.: The nonenzymatic template-directed ligation of oligonucleotides, Biogeosciences Discuss., 3, 1-21, 2006. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
