Sequencing the origins of life

Abstract

One goal of origins of life research is to understand how primitive informational and catalytic biopolymers emerged and evolved. Recently, a number of sequencing techniques have been applied to analysis of replicating and evolving primitive biopolymer systems, providing a sequence-specific and high-resolution view of primitive chemical processes. Here, we review application of sequencing techniques to analysis of synthetic and primitive nucleic acids and polypeptides. This includes next-generation sequencing of primitive polymerization and evolution processes, followed by discussion of other novel biochemical techniques that could contribute to sequence analysis of primitive biopolymer driven chemical systems. Further application of sequencing to origins of life research, perhaps as a life detection technology, could provide insight into the origin and evolution of informational and catalytic biopolymers on early Earth or elsewhere.

Keywords: Astrobiology; Biopolymers; Chemical Evolution; Display methods; Next-Generation Sequencing; Origin of Life.

Fig. 1

Library preparation strategy of NERPE-Seq. Figure reproduced with permission from D. Duzdevich, C.E. Carr, J.W. Szostak, Deep sequencing of non-enzymatic RNA primer extension, Nucleic Acids Res., 48 (2020) e70 [74] under a Creative Commons License.

Fig. 2

Various directed evolution strategies for DNA, RNA, and peptides/proteins, each starting from a DNA library and involving selection, amplification, and eventually NGS analysis. The various strategies can be applied to DNA/RNA (SELEX, i.e., direct nucleic acid selection) or peptides/proteins (display coupling nucleotide information to peptide information) and encompass both in vitro techniques (mRNA, cDNA, and liposome display and SELEX) as well as in vivo techniques (phage and cell-surface display).