The Combinatorial Fusion Cascade to Generate the Standard Genetic Code

• Main Authors: Alexander Nesterov-Mueller, Roman Popov
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: Life
• Subjects: origin of genetic code; prebiotic chemistry; time order of canonical amino acids
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/11/9/975

Combinatorial fusion cascade was proposed as a transition stage between prebiotic chemistry and early forms of life. The combinatorial fusion cascade consists of three stages: eight initial complimentary pairs of amino acids, four protocodes, and the standard genetic code. The initial complimentary pairs and the protocodes are divided into dominant and recessive entities. The transitions between these stages obey the same combinatorial fusion rules for all amino acids. The combinatorial fusion cascade mathematically describes the codon assignments in the standard genetic code. It explains the availability of amino acids with the even and odd numbers of codons, the appearance of stop codons, inclusion of novel canonical amino acids, exceptional high numbers of codons for amino acids arginine, leucine, and serine, and the temporal order of amino acid inclusion into the genetic code. The temporal order of amino acids within the cascade is congruent with the consensus temporal order previously derived from the similarities between the available hypotheses. The control over the combinatorial fusion cascades would open the road for a novel technology to develop artificial microorganisms.