Letter to EditorFrom the RNA world to the RNA/protein world: Contribution of some riboswitch-binding species?

•Primordial peptide formation promoted by polyribonucleotides•Interactions between polyribonucleotides with amino acids•Riboswitch-binding species as relics of prebiological period

Some amino acids and their formal derivatives, currently riboswitch-binding species, could have interacted with polyribonucletides in prebiotic environments, leading to the peptide formation. If the resulting compounds had led to a sustainable polymerization of amino acids and the new structures had catalytic activity, such would have been an important contribution to the transition from the RNA world to the RNA/Protein world.