Assoc. Prof. Zdravka Kostova, DSc.
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/nat2021-5.05
Absract. The article discusses successive stages in the evolution of life up to the establishment of the prokaryotic cell emphasizing the transitions from pre-biotic environment to organic precursors, pre-RNA-RNA, RNA-proteins-DNA, DNA-LUCA. They are paired with the development of pre-biotic structural progenitors of a cell - micelles, vesicles, protocells, prokaryotic ancestor, two prokaryotic branches – Eubacteria and Archaebacteria. The driving force is the natural selection (chemical, biochemical and biological), maintaining the correspondence between the emerging structures and their environment
Keywords: pre-biotic environment; polymerization; evolutionary transitions; bioenergetic processes; redox potential