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Original Articles

Was methionine the molecular trigger of life on early earth?

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Pages 329-332 | Received 05 Feb 2015, Accepted 23 Mar 2015, Published online: 06 Feb 2016
 

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Abstract

Since methionine is capable of self-activation, the dipeptides formed by the reaction of its activated form with another amino acid were over-represented in the primitive ocean. This hypothesis gives a key role to methionine in the development of life on the Earth. It could explain why a methionine residue begins the synthesis of all proteins, while it is usually not necessary for its catalytic activity, and why the start codon is relatively variable in prokaryotes.

Funding

We thank “Labex Arcane” (ANR-11-LABX-0003-01) for the funding of K. V. Raghavendra Rao's grant.

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