A High-Pressure, High-Temperature Flow Reactor Simulating the Hadean Earth Environment, with Application to the Pressure Dependence of the Cleavage of Avocado Viroid Hammerhead Ribozyme
Kunio Kawamura,
Mari Ogawa,
Noriko Konagaya,
Yoshimi Maruoka,
Jean-François Lambert,
Louis M. P. Ter-Ovanessian,
Jacques Vergne,
Guy Hervé,
Marie-Christine Maurel
Affiliations
Kunio Kawamura
Department of Human Environmental Studies, Hiroshima Shudo University, 1-1-1 Ozuka-higashi, Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima 731-3195, Japan
Mari Ogawa
Department of Primary Education, Yasuda Women’s University, 6-13-1 Yasuhigashi, Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima 731-0153, Japan
Noriko Konagaya
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Yasuda Women’s University, 6-13-1 Yasuhigashi, Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima 731-0153, Japan
Yoshimi Maruoka
Department of Human Environmental Studies, Hiroshima Shudo University, 1-1-1 Ozuka-higashi, Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima 731-3195, Japan
Jean-François Lambert
Laboratoire de Réactivité de Surface—CNRS UMR 7197, Sorbonne Université—Campus Pierre et Marie Curie, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, 75005 Paris, France
Louis M. P. Ter-Ovanessian
Laboratoire de Réactivité de Surface—CNRS UMR 7197, Sorbonne Université—Campus Pierre et Marie Curie, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, 75005 Paris, France
Jacques Vergne
Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), UMR 7205 CNRS MNHN UPMC EPHE, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, CP. 50, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France
Guy Hervé
Laboratoire BIOSIPE, Institut de Biologie Paris-Seine, Sorbonne Université, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, 75005 Paris, France
Marie-Christine Maurel
Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), UMR 7205 CNRS MNHN UPMC EPHE, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, CP. 50, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France
The RNA world hypothesis suggests that chemical networks consisting of functional RNA molecules could have constructed a primitive life-like system leading a first living system. The chemical evolution scenario of RNA molecules should be consistent with the Hadean Earth environment. We have demonstrated the importance of the environment at both high temperature and high pressure, using different types of hydrothermal flow reactor systems and high-pressure equipment. In the present study, we have attempted to develop an alternative easy-to-implement method for high-pressure measurements and demonstrate that the system is applicable as an efficient research tool for high-pressure experiments at pressures up to 30 MPa. We demonstrate the usefulness of the system by detecting the high-pressure influence for the self-cleavage of avocado hammerhead ribozyme (ASBVd(−):HHR) at 45–65 °C. A kinetic analysis of the high-pressure behavior of ASBVd(−):HHR shows that the ribozyme is active at 30 MPa and its activity is sensitive to pressures between 0.1–30 MPa. The surprising finding that such a short ribozyme is effective for self-cleavage at a high pressure suggests the importance of pressure as a factor for selection of adaptable RNA molecules towards an RNA-based life-like system in the Hadean Earth environment deep in the ocean.
