Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39145798›Full record

ArticleJournal of molecular evolution2024

RNA or DNA? Revisiting the Chemical Nature of the Cenancestral Genome.

Wolfgang Cottom-Salas, Arturo Becerra, Antonio Lazcano

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of molecular evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Studying the Evolution of Protein Structure One Superfamily at a Time.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026
    Article
  3. Can the origin of biosynthetic routes be explained by a Frankenstein's monster-like spontaneous assembly of prebiotic reactants?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Wolfgang Cottom-SalasPosgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, UNAM, Cd. Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
Arturo BecerraFacultad de Ciencias, UNAM, Cd. Universitaria, Apdo.Postal 70-407, 04510, Mexico City, DF, Mexico.
Antonio LazcanoFacultad de Ciencias, UNAM, Cd. Universitaria, Apdo.Postal 70-407, 04510, Mexico City, DF, Mexico. alar@ciencias.unam.mx.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

One of the central issues in the understanding of early cellular evolution is the characterisation of the cenancestor. This includes the description of the chemical nature of its genome. The disagreements on this question comprise several proposals, including the possibility that AlkB-mediated methylation repair of alkylated RNA molecules may be interpreted as evidence of a cenancestral RNA genome. We present here an evolutionary analysis of the cupin-like protein superfamily based on tertiary structure-based phylogenies that includes the oxygen-dependent AlkB and its homologs. Our results suggest that the repair of methylated RNA molecules is the outcome of the enzyme substrate ambiguity, and doesn´t necessarily indicates that the last common ancestor was endowed with an RNA genome.

Indexed as

DNAEvolution, MolecularGenomePhylogenyRNAAlkB EnzymesMethylationAlkB EnzymesDNARNAAlkBCenancestorDemethylation repairDNA repairGreat oxidative EventLCA genomeSubstrate ambiguityTertiary structure-based phylogenies

Identifiers

PMID39145798
PMCPMC11458739

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.