title: Genetic material in the early evolution of bacteria.
abstract: DNA and RNA are nucleic acids that cells and viruses use to produce copies of themselves. However, there is an immense paucity of knowledge on how these nucleic acids originated and changed as early bacteria became capable of growth and cell division. One possibility is that parallel evolution of the genetic code and protein synthesis was required for assembly of the first cells capable of growth and division. It is also possible that DNA-RNA duplices were intermediate genetic material in the early assembly of the first cells. These ideas will be discussed as well as other aspects of the assembly of the first cells on the Earth.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Department of Environmental Biology University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, NIG 2Wl. jtrevors@uoguelph.ca
authors.forename: Jack Thomas
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Trevors
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012329:RNA, Bacterial