RESUMO
The origin of a universal and optimal genetic code remains a compelling mystery in molecular biology and marks an essential step in the origin of DNA and protein based life. We examine a collective evolution model of genetic code origin that allows for unconstrained horizontal transfer of genetic elements within a finite population of sequences each of which is associated with a genetic code selected from a pool of primordial codes. We find that when horizontal transfer of genetic elements is incorporated in this more realistic model of code-sequence coevolution in a finite population, it can increase the likelihood of emergence of a more optimal code eventually leading to its universality through fixation in the population. The establishment of such an optimal code depends on the probability of HGT events. Only when the probability of HGT events is above a critical threshold, we find that the ten amino acid code having a structure that is most consistent with the standard genetic code (SGC) often gets fixed in the population with the highest probability. We examine how the threshold is determined by factors like the population size, length of the sequences and selection coefficient. Our simulation results reveal the conditions under which sharing of coding innovations through horizontal transfer of genetic elements may have facilitated the emergence of a universal code having a structure similar to that of the SGC.
Assuntos
Aminoácidos/genética , Transferência Genética Horizontal/genética , Código Genético/genéticaRESUMO
The origin of a genetic code made it possible to create ordered sequences of amino acids. In this article we provide two perspectives on code origin by carrying out simulations of code-sequence coevolution in finite populations with the aim of examining how the standard genetic code may have evolved from more primitive code(s) encoding a small number of amino acids. We determine the efficacy of the physico-chemical hypothesis of code origin in the absence and presence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) by allowing a diverse collection of code-sequence sets to compete with each other. We find that in the absence of horizontal gene transfer, natural selection between competing codes distinguished by differences in the degree of physico-chemical optimization is unable to explain the structure of the standard genetic code. However, for certain probabilities of the horizontal transfer events, a universal code emerges having a structure that is consistent with the standard genetic code.
Assuntos
Aminoacil-tRNA Sintetases/química , Códon/química , Código Genético , Origem da Vida , RNA Mensageiro/química , RNA de Transferência Aminoácido-Específico/química , Aminoácidos/química , Aminoácidos/metabolismo , Aminoacil-tRNA Sintetases/metabolismo , Códon/metabolismo , Evolução Molecular , Transferência Genética Horizontal , Genes , Modelos Genéticos , Probabilidade , Biossíntese de Proteínas , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , RNA de Transferência Aminoácido-Específico/metabolismo , Seleção GenéticaRESUMO
The origin of the genetic code marked a major transition from a plausible RNA world to the world of DNA and proteins and is an important milestone in our understanding of the origin of life. We examine the efficacy of the physico-chemical hypothesis of code origin by carrying out simulations of code-sequence coevolution in finite populations in stages, leading first to the emergence of ten amino acid code(s) and subsequently to 14 amino acid code(s). We explore two different scenarios of primordial code evolution. In one scenario, competition occurs between populations of equilibrated code-sequence sets while in another scenario; new codes compete with existing codes as they are gradually introduced into the population with a finite probability. In either case, we find that natural selection between competing codes distinguished by differences in the degree of physico-chemical optimization is unable to explain the structure of the standard genetic code. The code whose structure is most consistent with the standard genetic code is often not among the codes that have a high fixation probability. However, we find that the composition of the code population affects the code fixation probability. A physico-chemically optimized code gets fixed with a significantly higher probability if it competes against a set of randomly generated codes. Our results suggest that physico-chemical optimization may not be the sole driving force in ensuring the emergence of the standard genetic code.
