Biochemistry of fluoroprolines: the prospect of making fluorine a bioelement

• Vladimir Kubyshkin,
• Rebecca Davis and
• Nediljko Budisa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 439–460, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.40

• summarized elsewhere [18][19]. They are not included in this review due to a scarcity of biochemical studies. Review 1 The special role of proline in proteins In accord with contemporary evolution theories, a primitive proteome of protocells is thought to have developed from a small set of amino acids, with

Chemical systems, chemical contiguity and the emergence of life

• Terrence P. Kee and
• Pierre-Alain Monnard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1551–1563, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.155

• emergence of contemporary cells through historical reconstruction, i.e., the construction of chemical models called protocells [1] (Figure 1); the other is to mimic cellular architectures to create artificial cell-like entities in relation with various applications that range from medicine to environmental

• reports on chemical systems, we will highlight the potential of the “chemical system” approach for the investigation of the origin of pre-cellular systems and protocells. What are chemical systems? Chemical systems are defined here as chemical mixtures comprising a network or set of interacting molecules

• early chemical systems and by extension that of protocells and contemporary cells. Furthermore, the environmental conditions must have defined the potential reactivity of these compounds. While these statements are agreed upon, the exact environmental parameters, i.e., chemical composition, temperature

Framing major prebiotic transitions as stages of protocell development: three challenges for origins-of-life research

• Ben Shirt-Ediss,
• Sara Murillo-Sánchez and
• Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1388–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.135

• proper units of prebiotic evolution. We highlight, in particular, how the organisational features of those chemically active and reactive protocells, at different stages of the process, would strongly influence their corresponding evolutionary capacities. As a result of our analysis, we suggest three

• experimental challenges aimed at constructing protocell systems made of a diversity of functionally coupled components and, thereby, at characterizing more precisely the type of prebiotic evolutionary dynamics that such protocells could engage in. Keywords: functional integration; origins of life; prebiotic

• evolution; protocells; Introduction Living beings on Earth, even in their simplest prokaryote versions, are extremely complex systems, made of a great diversity of molecular components in continuous transformation and interaction. At the base level, each cell is sustained by means of an impressive

From chemical metabolism to life: the origin of the genetic coding process

• Antoine Danchin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1119–1135, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.111

• considerable number of works about RNAs involved in a large number of functions, including catalytic activities (ribozymes). It can therefore be expected that primeval metabolism was developed at this point as a mixture of peptide- and RNA-mediated catalytic activities, within protocells. Because of their

Conjecture and hypothesis: The importance of reality checks

• David Deamer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 620–624, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.60

• hydrothermal fields associated with volcanic landmasses. These are considered as alternative hypotheses and the accumulating weight of evidence for each site is described and analyzed. Keywords: hydrothermal fields; hydrothermal vents; origin of life; polymerization by condensation; protocells; Introduction

• mononucleotides [22][28][29]. Because the resulting polymers can be encapsulated in lipid vesicles, it has been proposed that the resulting protocells are candidates for combinatorial selection and the first steps of evolution [30]. Conclusion From the above discussion, alternative conjectures have been published

• present in the mixture, the conditions will allow them to assemble into membranous compartments. A plausible physical mechanism can produce encapsulated polymers in the form of protocells and subject them to combinatorial selection. These conditions can also be considered to be predictions, because each