Question

Which one of the following is incorrect about the characteristic of protobionts (coacervates and microspheres) as envisaged in the abiogenic origin of life?
A. They were able to reproduce
B. They could separate combinations of molecules from the surroundings
C. They were partially isolated from the surroundings
D. They could maintain an internal environment

Answer 1

Hint: Protobiont is a simple cell with both organic and inorganic compounds. It is generally regarded as a precursor to living cells. Coacervates are a self-organized spherical lipid collection that is considered to be a step towards the origin of life. They include amino acid polymeric chains and nucleotides connected to phosphodiesters.

Complete answer: A protobiont is an accumulation bound by a membrane or a membrane-like structure of abiotically created organic molecules. Protobionts show certain life-related features, including simple reproduction, metabolism and excitability, as well as maintaining an internal chemical environment that is different from that of their environment. They were a crucial step in the origin of life on earth, as it has been proposed. Experiments by Sidney W. Fox and Aleksandr Oparin have shown that in situations close to the world thought to occur on the early earth, they can be created spontaneously. Protobionts seem to be excitable, metabolically active, protein clusters which replicate inaccurately. When their protein portions are combined with cold water, these clusters form: they self-assemble into microspheres. Protobionts, like a neuron, can also release voltage and certain protobionts store energy as organelles in a similar process of membrane potential. A protobiont can swell and contract osmotically when covered with a semi-permeable membrane in solutions of varying salt concentrations. With the liposome, the protobiont shares its weak catabolic abilities. They were partly isolated from the environment, but they were unable to separate molecule combinations from the environment.
Thus, option B is the correct answer.

Note: Protobionts are also referred to as protocells. Coacervates have characteristics that serve as an excellent option to synthesise artificial membrane-less organelles. These artificial membrane-less organelles are not separated by a lipid bilayer such as classic membrane-bound organelles from the surrounding area.