Differential Oligomerization of Alpha versus Beta Amino Acids and Hydroxy Acids in Abiotic Proto-Peptide Synthesis Reactions.

The origin of biopolymers is a central question in origins of life research. In extant life, proteins are coded linear polymers made of a fixed set of twenty alpha--amino acids. It is likely that the prebiotic forerunners of proteins, or protopeptides, were more heterogenous polymers with a greater diversity of building blocks and linkage stereochemistry.

Evaluation of Genome Sequences of the Bacteriophages JeTaime and Luna22.

The mycobacteriophages JeTaime (E cluster) and Luna22 (Q cluster) were isolated from soil in Providence, Rhode Island, and Charleston, South Carolina, respectively, using a Mycobacterium smegmatis mc 155 host. The genome of JeTaime is 75,099 bp (142 predicted genes), and that of Luna22 is 53,730 bp (87 predicted genes). Both phages exhibit morphology.