Mini-ribozymes and freezing environment: a new scenario for the early RNA world

Abstract. The RNA World hypothesis states that the present-day life, which is based on DNA genomes and protein enzymes, was preceded by a simpler life form based primarily on RNA. During this era, the genetic information resided in the sequence of RNA molecules and the phenotype derived from the catalytic properties of RNA. Though it is a widely accepted scenario, a number of problems remain unsolved. One of the biggest questions is how complex RNAs could evolve, survive and replicate under typically assumed ''warm and wet'' conditions, taking into account that the RNA phosphodiester backbone is chemically unstable under these conditions. We suggest that prebiotic conditions associated with freezing could have been of key importance in the early RNA World, and discuss the role of primitive catalytic RNA in the evolution of RNA size and complexity.