Why ribose was selected as the sugar component of nucleic acids.
During evolution ribose was selected as the exclusive sugar component of nucleic acids. The selection is explained by using molecular models and by eliminating most of the other common sugars by looking at their chemical structure and envisioning how they would fit in a nucleic acid model. Comparisons of sugar pucker conformations and configurations of pentoses indicate that ribose was not randomly selected but the only choice, since beta-D-ribose fits best into the structure of physiological forms of nucleic acids. In other nucleotides containing arabinose, xylose, or lyxose, the C(2)'-OH and/or the C(3)'-OH are above the furanose ring, causing steric interference with the bulky base and the C(5)'-OH group.
Department of Animal Anatomy and Physiology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary. bgaspar@delfin.unideb.hu
Gaspar
G
Banfalvi
D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D012266:Ribose / Q000737:chemistry*
D009696:Nucleic Acids; D012266:Ribose