title: Peptide nucleic acid (PNA): a model structure for the primordial genetic material?
abstract: It is proposed that the primordial genetic material could have been peptide nucleic acids, i.e., DNA analogues having a peptide backbone. PNA monomers based on the amino acid, alpha, gamma-diaminobutyric acid or ornithine are suggested as compounds that could have been formed in the prebiotic soup. Finally, the possibility of a PNA/RNA world is presented, in which PNA constitutes the stable genetic material, while RNA which may be polymerized using the PNA as template accounts for enzymatic activities including PNA replication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry B, Panum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D009696:Nucleic Acids; D010455:Peptides; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D004247:DNA