Abiotic ligation of DNA oligomers templated by their liquid crystal ordering.
It has been observed that concentrated solutions of short DNA oligomers develop liquid crystal ordering as the result of a hierarchically structured supramolecular self-assembly. In mixtures of oligomers with various degree of complementarity, liquid crystal microdomains are formed via the selective aggregation of those oligomers that have a sufficient degree of duplexing and propensity for physical polymerization. Here we show that such domains act as fluid and permeable microreactors in which the order-stabilized molecular contacts between duplex terminals serve as physical templates for their chemical ligation. In the presence of abiotic condensing agents, liquid crystal ordering markedly enhances ligation efficacy, thereby enhancing its own phase stability. The coupling between order-templated ligation and selectivity provided by supramolecular ordering enables an autocatalytic cycle favouring the growth of DNA chains, up to biologically relevant lengths, from few-base long oligomers. This finding suggests a novel scenario for the abiotic origin of nucleic acids.
Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università di Milano, via Fratelli Cervi 93, I-20090 Segrate, Milan, Italy.
Tommaso P
TP
Fraccia
Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, USA.
Gregory P
GP
Smith
Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università di Milano, via Fratelli Cervi 93, I-20090 Segrate, Milan, Italy.
Giuliano
G
Zanchetta
Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università di Milano, via Fratelli Cervi 93, I-20090 Segrate, Milan, Italy.
Elvezia
E
Paraboschi
Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, USA.
Youngwoo
Y
Yi
Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, USA.
Yougwooo
Y
Yi
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, USA.
David M
DM
Walba
Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 23/A, I-43124 Parma, Italy.
Giorgio
G
Dieci
Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, USA.
Noel A
NA
Clark
Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università di Milano, via Fratelli Cervi 93, I-20090 Segrate, Milan, Italy.
Tommaso
T
Bellini
D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D000069497:Origin of Life; D058105:Polymerization
D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D004247:DNA