Genetics Laboratory, National Institute on Aging, NIA/NIH / 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2009 Apr 22;10(4):1838-1852. doi: 10.3390/ijms10041838.
Coenzymes are often considered as remnants of primordial metabolism, but not as hereditary molecules. I suggest that coenzyme-like molecules (CLMs) performed hereditary functions before the emergence of nucleic acids. Autocatalytic CLMs modified (encoded) surface properties of hydrocarbon microspheres, to which they were anchored, and these changes enhanced autocatalysis and propagation of CLMs. Heredity started from a single kind of self-reproducing CLM, and then evolved into more complex coenzyme autocatalytic networks containing multiple kinds of CLMs. Polymerization of CLMs on the surface of microspheres and development of template-based synthesis is a potential evolutionary path towards the emergence of nucleic acids.
辅酶通常被认为是原始代谢的残余物，而不是遗传分子。我认为，在核酸出现之前，辅酶样分子（CLM）就已经具有遗传功能。自催化的 CLM 修饰（编码）了它们所附着的碳氢微球的表面性质，从而增强了 CLM 的自催化和增殖。遗传从一种自我复制的 CLM 开始，然后演变成包含多种 CLM 的更复杂的辅酶自催化网络。CLM 在微球表面的聚合和基于模板的合成的发展是核酸出现的一种潜在进化途径。
