The evolution of those primordial life forms that survived would involve, firstly, emergence of temperate virus-like agents that do not kill the host, and secondly, early invention of primitive defense mechanisms, likely, based on RNA interference (RNAi).
The aim of the simulations was to quantify the significance of the UV protection mechanism for the evolution of primordial RNA-like polymers by computer modelling of the polymerization of sugar-phosphate monomers in the presence of nucleobases.
Until recently, one of the major caveats in the chemical evolution of primordial gas clouds was the large uncertainty in the three-body formation rate coefficient.
Here, in order to be concrete, we attempt a reconstruction of the earliest events in the evolution of primordial virus-like entities within the framework of this model although our general conclusions do not seem to hinge on any particular model of organization of the ancient, precellular life.
To explore the significance of such a UV protection mechanism for the evolution of primordial polymers, we modeled the polymerization of sugar-phosphate monomers (R) in the presence of nitrogenous bases (N) under the conditions of UV illumination.
In contrast, Kunin et al [ 16] recently showed that the most highly connected proteins date to after the evolution of primordial eukaryotes but before the radiation of eukaryotes to Plants, Metazoa and Protista.
The first calculations of the evolution of primordial protostars with continuous accretion were carried out by Stahler et al. (1986a, 1986b) and Omukai and Palla (2001, 2003).
We outline a scenario of the origin of the main classes of viruses in conjunction with a specific model of precellular evolution under which the primordial gene pool dwelled in a network of inorganic compartments.
Thus each mitochondrial CYP450 sequence noted in the D. noxia genome may represent an instance of horizontal gene transfer during the early evolution of its primordial aphid ancestor.
It may also have implications for prebiotic evolution of genetic machinery at the primordial stages of the origin of life.
Nevertheless, the sink-particle technique is currently the only method to investigate the evolution of primordial gas clouds over significant periods of time, and efforts are underway to increase their physical realism (Hubber et al. 2013).
