Physicochemical Cause and Effect Observed in DNA Length-Dependent Division of Protocell as the Primitive Flow of Information

摘要

In the prebiotic era, physicochemical cause and effect served as the primitive flow of information for protocells. Our recent study claimed that the manners and frequencies of self-reproduction of giant vesicle (GV) -based model protocells were regulated by the incorporated DNA-length, and not the base-pair sequence due to the presence of a supramolecular catalyst (lipo-deoxyribozyme) composed of DNA and lipophilic catalysts. The DNA-length dependent dynamics of the self-reproducing GVs containing different length of DNA were examined by three independent experiments; Population analysis by flow cytometric measurements, counting of increased numbers of protocells and direct morphological observation of a single GV by confocal microscopy. These results may shed light on the information system in the prebiotic stage, when the central dogma was not established. Notably, recent reports have revealed the possible influence of DNA length on the activation of living cells through the complexation of DNA to an enzyme in non-sequential aggregation manner.