The selfish ribosome

TL;DR

This paper presents a hypothesis that the ribosome originated as a mutualistic symbiont and evolved into a selfish element that dominates cellular resources, highlighting its central role in the evolution of life.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective on ribosome evolution as a selfish element that emerged from mutualism and now controls cellular resource consumption.

Findings

Ribosome originated as a symbiotic partner of an RNA polymerase ribozyme.

Evolution led to the ribosome becoming a dominant, resource-consuming entity.

The ribosome is characterized as the ultimate biological selfish element.

Abstract

The ribosome is responsible for protein synthesis in all cells, and is the largest energy consumer in the cell. We propose that the ribosome originated as a mutualistic symbiont of an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase ribozyme, supplying peptides that enhanced replication. As life transitioned from the RNA to the RNA-protein world, autonomous replicators became irreversibly addicted to the ribosome for producing replication proteins. Subsequent evolution is construed as a ribosomal takeover, whereby the ribosome evolved to consume most of the resources of the cell, while other cellular componentry ensured the propagation of the ribosome. Under this perspective, the ribosome is the ultimate biological selfish element.