Reasons for the occurrence of the twenty coded protein amino acids
It is concluded that aspartic acid, glutamic acid, arginine, lysine, serine and possibly threonine are the best choices for acidic, basic and hydroxy amino acids.
Bioenergetics and life's origins.
Examination of potential sources of energy available to protocells, and mechanisms by which the energy could be used to drive polymer synthesis are examined.
Genetic code correlations: Amino acids and their anticodon nucleotides
- A. Weber, J. C. Lacey
- BiologyJournal of Molecular Evolution
- 2 August 1978
The data here suggest that molecular relationships between amino acids and anticodons were responsible for the origin of the code, but it is not clear what the mechanism of the origin might have been.
Prebiotic Amino Acids as Asymmetric Catalysts
- S. Pizzarello, A. Weber
- PhysicsScience
- 20 February 2004
The exogenous delivery of cometary and asteroidal material is observed today and undoubtedly has showered the Earth through its prior history ([ 1 ][1]). Because carbonaceous meteorites contain amino…
The Sugar Model: Catalysis by Amines and Amino Acid Products
- A. Weber
- ChemistryOrigins of life and evolution of the biosphere
- 1 February 2001
The demonstration that the alanine catalyzes the conversion of glycolaldehyde and formaldehyde to pyruvaldehyde indicates that this synthetic pathway is capable ofautocatalysis, and the relevance of this synthetic process, named the Sugar Model, to the origin of life is discussed.
Stereoselective Syntheses of Pentose Sugars Under Realistic Prebiotic Conditions
- S. Pizzarello, A. Weber
- Biology, ChemistryOrigins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
- 1 February 2010
The suggestion that interactions between simple molecules of prebiotic relevance on the early Earth might have included the transfer of chiral asymmetry and advanced molecular evolution is substantiated.
Prebiotic Amino Acid Thioester Synthesis: Thiol-Dependent Amino Acid Synthesis from Formose Substrates (Formaldehyde and Glycolaldehyde) and Ammonia
- A. Weber
- Chemistry, BiologyOrigins of life and evolution of the biosphere
- 2004
Alanine synthesis was also seen in similar reactions containing only 10 mM each of aldehyde substrates, ammonia, and thiol, and the prebiotic significance of these reactions that use the formose reaction to generate sugar intermediates that are converted to reactive amino acid thioesters is discussed.
Growth of Organic Microspherules in Sugar-Ammonia Reactions
- A. Weber
- Materials ScienceOrigins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
- 1 December 2005
Reaction of small sugars of less than four carbons with ammonia in water yielded organic microspherules generally less than ten microns in size, viewed as possible containers for prebiotic catalytic processes relevant to the origin of life.
Sugars as the Optimal Biosynthetic Carbon Substrate of Aqueous Life Throughout the Universe
- A. Weber
- ChemistryOrigins of life and evolution of the biosphere
- 1 February 2000
It is revealed that sugars (monocarbonyl alditols) are the optimal biosynthetic substrate because they contain the maximum number of biosynthetically useful highenergy electrons/carbon atom while still containing asingle carbonyl group needed to kinetically facilitatetheir conversion to useful biosynthetics intermediates.
The peptide-catalyzed stereospecific synthesis of tetroses: A possible model for prebiotic molecular evolution
- A. Weber, S. Pizzarello
- Chemistry, BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- 22 August 2006
It is demonstrated that homochiral l-dipeptide catalysts lead to the stereospecific syntheses of tetroses, and a possible catalytic-reaction intermediate is proposed, consisting of an imidazolidinone ring formed between the two nitrogen atoms of the peptide catalyst and the C1 of one glycolaldehyde molecule.
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