The Composition and Organization of Cytoplasm in Prebiotic Cells

doi:10.3390/ijms12031650

Open AccessThis article is

freely available
re-usable

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2011, 12(3), 1650-1659; doi:10.3390/ijms12031650

Review

The Composition and Organization of Cytoplasm in Prebiotic Cells

Jack T. Trevors

School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada

Received: 26 January 2011; in revised form: 15 February 2011 / Accepted: 23 February 2011 / Published: 3 March 2011

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Origin of Life 2011)

Download PDF Full-Text [191 KB, uploaded 3 March 2011 11:52 CET]

Abstract: This article discusses the hypothesized composition and organization of cytoplasm in prebiotic cells from a theoretical perspective and also based upon what is currently known about bacterial cytoplasm. It is unknown if the first prebiotic, microscopic scale, cytoplasm was initially contained within a primitive, continuous, semipermeable membrane, or was an uncontained gel substance, that later became enclosed by a continuous membrane. Another possibility is that the first cytoplasm in prebiotic cells and a primitive membrane organized at the same time, permitting a rapid transition to the first cell(s) capable of growth and division, thus assisting with the emergence of life on Earth less than a billion years after the formation of the Earth. It is hypothesized that the organization and composition of cytoplasm progressed initially from an unstructured, microscopic hydrogel to a more complex cytoplasm, that may have been in the volume magnitude of about 0.1–0.2 µm³ (possibly less if a nanocell) prior to the first cell division.

Keywords: bacteria; prebiotic cytoplasm; genetic instructions; hydrogel; origin of cytoplasm; spatial organization

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Trevors, J.T. The Composition and Organization of Cytoplasm in Prebiotic Cells. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2011, 12, 1650-1659.

AMA Style

Trevors JT. The Composition and Organization of Cytoplasm in Prebiotic Cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2011; 12(3):1650-1659.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Trevors, Jack T. 2011. "The Composition and Organization of Cytoplasm in Prebiotic Cells." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 12, no. 3: 1650-1659.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. EISSN 1422-0067 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert