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On the Vesicular Origin of the Cell Cycle

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Genesis - In The Beginning

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 22))

Abstract

The relation between the phenomena of cell cycle and vesicle self-reproduction has been investigated. It is proposed that vesicle self-reproduction is a process whose mechanism, based on commonly accepted physicochemical principles, could be an essential factor in the transition from the nonliving to the living world. This proposal is supported by first demonstrating the vesicle properties that are relevant to this process. A prototype model of vesicle self-reproduction and its possible generalization are then described. Parallels are drawn between the behavior of the cell cycle and the process of vesicle self-reproduction. The suggestion that the cell cycle is an upgraded version of vesicle self-reproduction is substantiated by ascribing to the latter process the ability to evolve on the basis of selection between vesicle populations.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency through grants P1-0055 and J3-2268. The author thanks Roger Pain and Peter Walde for the critical reading of the manuscript. Mojca Mally allowed the use of her results before publication, and Bojan Božič helped with the adaptation of Fig. 2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Lipičeva 2, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Saša Svetina

  2. Jožef Stefan Institute, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Saša Svetina

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  1. Saša Svetina
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Correspondence to Saša Svetina .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

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Svetina, S. (2012). On the Vesicular Origin of the Cell Cycle. In: Seckbach, J. (eds) Genesis - In The Beginning. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2941-4_38

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