Summary
When an aqueous solution (pH 7.0) of3H deoxythymidine 5′-triphosphate, deoxythymidine 5′-phosphate, 4-amino-5-imidazolecarboxamide, cyanamide and ammonium chloride was dried and heated at 60°C for 18 h, oligomers were obtained in a yield of approximately 80%. After the chemical degradation of any pyrophosphate bonds present in these oligomers, linear polynucleotides of up to 7–8 units in length were isolated by DEAE cellulose column chromatography and identified by enzymatic digestion procedures. The di- and trinucleotide fractions were degraded 87% and 100% by snake venom phosphodiesterase and 39% and 9% by spleen phosphodiesterase. This synthesis of deoxythymidine oligonucleotides was conducted under potentially prebiotic conditions and may offer a possible method for the synthesis of deoxyoligonucleotides on the primitive Earth.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- dT:
-
deoxythymidine
- dTMP:
-
deoxythymidine 5′-phosphate
- dTppT:
-
p1, p2-dideoxythymidine 5′-pyrophosphate
- dTTP:
-
deoxythymidine 5′-triphosphate
- “Pyr” dT:
-
5′-C-pyridinium deoxythymidine
- “Pyr” dT(pT)n :
-
5′-C-pyridinium deoxythymidine oligonucleotides
- AICA:
-
4-amino-5-imidazolecarboxamide
References
Halmann, M. (1968). Arch. Biochem. Biophys.128, 808–810
Ibanez, J.D., Kimball, A.P., Oró, J. (1971) Science173, 444–446
Khorana, H.G., Vizsolyi, J.P. (1961) J. Amer. Chem. Soc.83, 675–685
Lohrmann, R. (1972) J. Mol. Evol.1, 263–269
Lohrmann, R. (1975) J. Mol. Evol.6, 237–252
Moon, M.W., Khorana, H.G. (1966) J. Amer. Chem. Soc.88, 1798–1804
Odom, D.G., Brady, J.T., Oró, J. (1976). J. Mol. Evol.7, 151–157
Oró, J. (1963) Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci.108, 464–481
Oró, J., Kimball, A.P. (1961) Arch. Biochem. Biophys.94, 217–227
Pongs, O., T'so, P.O.P. (1969) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.36, 475–481
Ponnamperuma, C., Peterson, E. (1965) Science147, 1572–1574
Schwartz, A.W. (1972) Biochem. Biophys. Acta281, 477–480
Sherwood, E., Oró, J. (1977) J. Mol. Evol.10, 183–192
Steinman, G., Lemmon, R.M., Calvin, M. (1964) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.)52, 27–30
Steinman, G., Kenyon, D.H., Calvin, M. (1965a) Nature,206, 707–708
Steinman, G., Lemmon, R.M., Calvin, M. (1965b) Science147, 1574–1575
Steinman, G., Kenyon, D.H., Calvin, M. (1966) Biochem. Biophys. Acta124, 339–350
Stephen-Sherwood, E., Odom, D.G., Oró, J. (1974) J. Mol. Evol.3, 323–330
Weimann, G., Khorana, H.G. (1962) J. Amer. Chem. Soc.84, 419–430
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sherwood, E., Joshi, A. & Oró, J. Cyanamide mediated syntheses under plausible primitive earth conditions. J Mol Evol 10, 193–209 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01764595
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01764595