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Prebiotic and chemical evolution
Chemical Geology
Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands
Book Review Prebiotic and Chemical Evolution. A.P. Kimball and J. Or6 (Editors). North-Holland,
Amsterdam, 1971,296 pp., Dfl. 65.00. Geologists interested in primitive earth conditions in their relationship to the synthesis of simple organic compounds should review the contents of this volume. Within its pages are papers presented at a Symposium on Proteins and Nucleic Acids (Synthesis, Structure and Evolution) convened at the University of Houston in Texas in 1968; also papers on Biochemical Evolution presented at the Sixth Meeting of the European Biochemical Societies held in Madrid (1969). Some of the older papers were updated for the Kimball and Or6 book and a few have been reprinted from journals. In addition to their pertinence for biologically oriented geochemists the individual chapters hold factual and conceptual insights into a central problem in biochemistry: how did life originate on earth? The editors are themselves active in research on the condensation of nucleotides into polymers that might have had template function in early molecular synthesis. Contributors to the 24 papers in the book include many well-known to students of biogenesis, including A.L. Oparin, S.W. Fox, S.L. Miller, T.H. Jukes and C. Ponnamperuma. One of the contributions is an account by M. Goulian of the remarkable enzymatic synthesis of phage Phi-X 174 DNA, as performed in collaboration with A. Kornberg. Following an introduction by the editors, the subjects include the following. Coacervate drops as models of prebiological systems (A.I. Oparin). Self-assembly of the protocell from a self-ordered polymer (S.W. Fox). Non-enzymatic synthesis of biologically pertinent peptides (G. Steinman). Formation of organic polymers on inorganic templates (E.T. Degens and J. Matheja). Possible mechanisms for prebiotic phosphorylation (J. Rabinowitz et al.). Phosphorylation of nucleosides by condensed phosphates in aqueous systems (A. Schwartz and C. Ponnamperuma). Synthesis of pyrophosphate under primitive earth conditions (S.L. Miller and M. Parris). Polynucleotide replication and the origin of life (L.E. Orgel and J.E. Sulston). Synthesis and properties of polyarabinonucleotides (G. Schramm). Polymerization of nucleotides via displacement on carbon;its preparative and prebiotic significance (J. Nagyvary and R. Provenzale). Polymerization of deoxyribonucleotides by ultraviolet light (J.H. McReynolds et al.). Recent advances in studies of evolutionary relationships between proteins and nucleic acids (T.H. Jukes). A contribution to the evolution of structural proteins (A. Nordwig and U. Hayduk). Cellular differences in the transfer RNA content (C.T. Caskey). Evolution of phosphagen phosphokinases (N. Van Thoai). Functional organization and molecular evolution (D.C. Watts). Carotenoids and evolution (T.W. Goodwin). The evolution of photochemical electron transfer systems (A.A. Krasnovsky). The principle of excess in the synthesis of secretin (M. Bodansky). Investigation of a total synthesis of ferredoxin: synthesis of the amino acid sequence of C. Pasteurianum ferredoxin (E. Bayer et al.). Enzymatic synthesis of phage Phi-X 174 DNA (M. Goulian). Repeated sequences in DNA
316
BOOK REVIEW
(R.J. Britten and D.E. Kohne). Tertiary structure of ribonuclease (G. Kartha et al.). There is a subject index. In the introduction, editors Kimball and Or6 express the hope that the articles will be relevant many years from now. Solutions to problems at least three billion years old will not come quickly, particularly since some o f the basic assumptions may remain conjectural indefinitely. Individual articles show variation in quality but the general standard is high. Persons wishing to acquaint themselves with the preoccupations of space biologists - together with researchers seeking molecules at the b o t t o m of the three of evolution - can turn to the pages o f the b o o k for instruction. Since the content ranges from considerations o f the adsorption efficiency o f clay mineral surfaces such as kaolinite and montmorillonite - all the way to recent evolution of nucleic acids and proteins, geologists will learn a considerable amount of biochemistry and biochemists will at least come in contact with geology. Eventually, biochemical evolution on earth will be recognized as a branch of geochemistry V. BRYSON (New Brunswick)
Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands
Book Review Prebiotic and Chemical Evolution. A.P. Kimball and J. Or6 (Editors). North-Holland,
Amsterdam, 1971,296 pp., Dfl. 65.00. Geologists interested in primitive earth conditions in their relationship to the synthesis of simple organic compounds should review the contents of this volume. Within its pages are papers presented at a Symposium on Proteins and Nucleic Acids (Synthesis, Structure and Evolution) convened at the University of Houston in Texas in 1968; also papers on Biochemical Evolution presented at the Sixth Meeting of the European Biochemical Societies held in Madrid (1969). Some of the older papers were updated for the Kimball and Or6 book and a few have been reprinted from journals. In addition to their pertinence for biologically oriented geochemists the individual chapters hold factual and conceptual insights into a central problem in biochemistry: how did life originate on earth? The editors are themselves active in research on the condensation of nucleotides into polymers that might have had template function in early molecular synthesis. Contributors to the 24 papers in the book include many well-known to students of biogenesis, including A.L. Oparin, S.W. Fox, S.L. Miller, T.H. Jukes and C. Ponnamperuma. One of the contributions is an account by M. Goulian of the remarkable enzymatic synthesis of phage Phi-X 174 DNA, as performed in collaboration with A. Kornberg. Following an introduction by the editors, the subjects include the following. Coacervate drops as models of prebiological systems (A.I. Oparin). Self-assembly of the protocell from a self-ordered polymer (S.W. Fox). Non-enzymatic synthesis of biologically pertinent peptides (G. Steinman). Formation of organic polymers on inorganic templates (E.T. Degens and J. Matheja). Possible mechanisms for prebiotic phosphorylation (J. Rabinowitz et al.). Phosphorylation of nucleosides by condensed phosphates in aqueous systems (A. Schwartz and C. Ponnamperuma). Synthesis of pyrophosphate under primitive earth conditions (S.L. Miller and M. Parris). Polynucleotide replication and the origin of life (L.E. Orgel and J.E. Sulston). Synthesis and properties of polyarabinonucleotides (G. Schramm). Polymerization of nucleotides via displacement on carbon;its preparative and prebiotic significance (J. Nagyvary and R. Provenzale). Polymerization of deoxyribonucleotides by ultraviolet light (J.H. McReynolds et al.). Recent advances in studies of evolutionary relationships between proteins and nucleic acids (T.H. Jukes). A contribution to the evolution of structural proteins (A. Nordwig and U. Hayduk). Cellular differences in the transfer RNA content (C.T. Caskey). Evolution of phosphagen phosphokinases (N. Van Thoai). Functional organization and molecular evolution (D.C. Watts). Carotenoids and evolution (T.W. Goodwin). The evolution of photochemical electron transfer systems (A.A. Krasnovsky). The principle of excess in the synthesis of secretin (M. Bodansky). Investigation of a total synthesis of ferredoxin: synthesis of the amino acid sequence of C. Pasteurianum ferredoxin (E. Bayer et al.). Enzymatic synthesis of phage Phi-X 174 DNA (M. Goulian). Repeated sequences in DNA
316
BOOK REVIEW
(R.J. Britten and D.E. Kohne). Tertiary structure of ribonuclease (G. Kartha et al.). There is a subject index. In the introduction, editors Kimball and Or6 express the hope that the articles will be relevant many years from now. Solutions to problems at least three billion years old will not come quickly, particularly since some o f the basic assumptions may remain conjectural indefinitely. Individual articles show variation in quality but the general standard is high. Persons wishing to acquaint themselves with the preoccupations of space biologists - together with researchers seeking molecules at the b o t t o m of the three of evolution - can turn to the pages o f the b o o k for instruction. Since the content ranges from considerations o f the adsorption efficiency o f clay mineral surfaces such as kaolinite and montmorillonite - all the way to recent evolution of nucleic acids and proteins, geologists will learn a considerable amount of biochemistry and biochemists will at least come in contact with geology. Eventually, biochemical evolution on earth will be recognized as a branch of geochemistry V. BRYSON (New Brunswick)