Photon Dissipation as the Origin of Information Encoding in RNA and DNA

Abstract

Ultraviolet light incident on organic material can initiate its spontaneous dissipative structuring into chromophores which can catalyze their own replication. This may have been the case for one of the most ancient of all chromophores dissipating the Archean UVC photon flux, the nucleic acids. Oligos of nucleic acids with affinity to particular amino acids which foment UVC photon dissipation would most efficiently catalyze their own reproduction and thus would have been selected through non-equilibrium thermodynamic imperatives which favor dissipation. Indeed, we show here that those amino acids with characteristics most relevant to fomenting UVC photon dissipation are precisely those with greatest chemical affinity to their codons or anticodons. This could provide a thermodynamic basis for the specificity in the amino acid-nucleic acid interaction and an explanation for the accumulation of information in nucleic acids since this information is relevant to the optimization of dissipation of the externally imposed thermodynamic potentials. The accumulation of information in this manner provides a link between evolution and entropy production.

The Dissipative Photochemical Origin of Life: UVC Abiogenesis of Adenine

“…There, in fact, exists empirical evidence suggesting selection for traits optimizing UV exposure for particular amino acids complexed with their RNA or DNA cognate codons or anticodons, particularly for those amino acids displaying the strongest stereochemical affinity to these [ 57 ]. This has led us to suggest [ 18 , 57 ] that UVC photon dissipation was the basis of the initial specificity in the nucleic acid—amino acid association during an early stereochemical era [ 58 ]. This provides new light on the origin of information translation from nucleic acid to amino acid, which is one of the enduring mysteries of molecular biology [ 59 ].…”

“…Non-equilibrium thermodynamic theory, in particular Classical Irreversible Thermodynamics (CIT), developed by Théophile de Donder, Lars Onsager, Ilya Prigogine, Paul Glansdorff, Grégoire Nicolis, Agnessa Babloyantz, and others from the “Brussels school” has proven to be a very useful formalism for understanding living systems and their dynamics, including; the origin of life [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], the cell [ 19 ], cell differentiation [ 20 ], ecosystems [ 21 , 22 ], the biosphere [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] and even the synthesis of organic molecules detected in space [ 27 ].…”

The Dissipative Photochemical Origin of Life: UVC Abiogenesis of Adenine

“…for [58] through dissipative selection based on non-equilibrium thermodynamic principles described above and detailed in Appendix A. There, in fact, exists empirical evidence suggesting selection for traits optimizing UV exposure for particular amino acids complexed with their RNA or DNA cognate codons or anticodons, particularly for those amino acids displaying the strongest stereochemical affinity to these [58]. This has led us to suggest [18,58] that UVC photon dissipation was the basis of the initial specificity in the nucleic acid -amino acid association during an early stereochemical era [59].…”

“…There, in fact, exists empirical evidence suggesting selection for traits optimizing UV exposure for particular amino acids complexed with their RNA or DNA cognate codons or anticodons, particularly for those amino acids displaying the strongest stereochemical affinity to these [58]. This has led us to suggest [18,58] that UVC photon dissipation was the basis of the initial specificity in the nucleic acid -amino acid association during an early stereochemical era [59]. The origin of information translation from DNA to amino acid is one of the enduring mysteries of molecular biology [60].…”

“…Non-equilibrium thermodynamic theory, in particular Classical Irreversible Thermodynamics (CIT), developed by Théophile de Donder, Lars Onsager, Ilya Prigogine, Paul Glansdorff, Grégoire Nicolis, Agnessa Babloyantz, and others from the "Brussels school" has proven to be a very useful formalism for understanding living systems and their dynamics, including; the origin of life [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], the cell [19], cell differentiation [20], ecosystems [21,22], the biosphere [23][24][25][26][27] and even the synthesis of organic molecules detected in space [28].…”