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Prebiotic Polynucleotides and Polypeptides
Author(s) -
Orgel Leslie E.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
israel journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1869-5868
pISSN - 0021-2148
DOI - 10.1002/ijch.197500041
Subject(s) - polynucleotide , chemistry , aqueous solution , genetic code , sequence (biology) , biochemistry , organic chemistry , amino acid
Work on the non‐enzymatic replication of polynucleotides is discussed emphasizing sequence dependence and showing that alternating polynucleotides should replicate more easily than any others. Experimental work is described showing that polypeptides in which hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues alternate, adopt a β‐structure in aqueous solution. The possible relevance of these observations for the evolution of the genetic code is given.