Influence of Ionic Inorganic Solutes on Self-Assembly and Polymerization Processes Related to Early Forms of Life: Implications for a Prebiotic Aqueous Medium

A commonly accepted view is that life began in a marine environment, which would imply the presence of inorganic ions such as Na⁺, Cl^-, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and Fe²⁺. We have investigated two processes relevant to the origin of life - membrane self-assembly and RNA polymerization - and established that both are adversely affected by ionic solute concentrations much lower than those of contemporary oceans. In particular, monocarboxylic acid vesicles, which are plausible models of primitive membrane systems, are completely disrupted by low concentrations of divalent cations, such as magnesium and calcium, and by high sodium chloride concentrations as well. Similarly, a nonenzymatic, nontemplated polymerization of activated RNA monomers in ice/eutectic phases (in a solution of low initial ionic strength) yields oligomers with >80% of the original monomers incorporated, but polymerization in initially higher ionic strength aqueous solutions is markedly inhibited. These observations suggest that cellular life may not have begun in a marine environment because the abundance of ionic inorganic solutes would have significantly inhibited the chemical and physical processes that lead to self-assembly of more complex molecular systems.