Cell Division. Part One. A Theoretical Approach to the Primeval Mechanism, the Initiation of Cell Division, and Chromosomal Condensation

Abstract

Mitosis, as seen in contemporary plants and animals, includes many different refinements and modifications of one simple, ancient mechanism operative in the first living cells. The nature and course of development of a proposed primeval process are discussed in detail. The primeval mechanism involved a change in the number of polymerized negatively and positively charged groups ( a shift in polyelectrolyte balance) in a colloidal system composed predominantly of colloids bearing a net negative charge. The composition of the primeval atmosphere and the pH of the primeval seas dictated the nature of the building blocks available and the sign of the charge on the colloids formed, and laid the basis for metabolic systems extracting energy from organic acids in place of organic bases. Cell division is considered to have been initiated in terms of a shift in the balance of polyanions and polycations. The same mechanism accounts for the condensation of chromosomes into compact bodies such as are observed during metaphase. This mechanism is considered first to act on a desoxyribonucleic acid-protein gelwork and secondly to affect the postulated structure of the chromosome.