Comparison of known biotas

This article compares the biochemistry and characteristics of the biotas within the populated cosmos.

Overview

Feature		Cevobiota				Maiabiota	Zoabiota	Kannobiota	Telebiota	Araiobiota	Enyabiota	Atavalpobiota	Clannadobiota
		Cytobiota	Erdobiota	Vitobiota	Óótobiota
Planet		World		Julee	Elm	Maaya	Celiane	Kanno	The Farthest Land	Arai	Enya	Atahualpa	Clannad
Solvent		Water								Ammonia	Water
Genetic storage		DNA + RNA				INDs	GNA	FNLP	DNA + RNA	NPC	DNI	FNC	RNLP
Energy storage		ATP				Sphrigocalcin	Polyphosphate chains	Flavin mononucleotide	GTP	Hydrazine	?	Pyrroloquinoline quinone	?
Chirality of...	Amino acids	Levous				Levous	Dextrous	Levous	Dextrous	Levous	Dextrous	Dextrous	Levous
	Sugars	Dextrous				Levous	Levous	Dextrous	Levous	Levous	Levous	Dextrous	Dextrous
Amino acid count		20				26	12	23	22	18	21	28	25
Non-universal prolific characteristics
Blood oxygen binder		Iron (haemoglobin)	Clunium (clunocruorin)	Cobalt (coboglobin)	Iron (haemoglobin)	Iron (ferroglobin)	Iron-copper complex (FeCubin)	Iron (chlorocruorin)	Copper (haemocyanin)	Titanium (azotorespirin-W)	Nickel (niccocruorin)	Manganese (manganocruorin)	Copper (haemocyanin)
Photosynthetic pigment		Chlorophyll		Biliverdin	Phycoerythrin	Rhodopsin	Indigo	Lycopene	Bacteriochlorophyll e	Corrin-like violet pigment	Methylene blue	Chlorophyll	Riboflavin
Bone mineral		Hydroxyapatite				Whitlockite		Struvite-collagen complex	Lignin	Magnesium-ammonium-phosphate mineral	Hydroxyapatite		Struvite-collagen complex

Genetic storage

Deoxyribonucleic and ribonucleic acids

Main article: wikipedia:DNA

Deoxyribonucleic intervalene

Deoxyribonucleic intervalene.

DNI (deoxyribonucleic intervalene) is the genetic polymer found in Enyan life. It consists of a deoxyribose-phosphate backbone with methyl groups interspersed throughout, akin to a comb with broken teeth. It stores genetic information through the intervals between these groups. These intervals can be of 1, 2 or 3 backbone units, and codon length is 3 intervals, which gives 27 combinations. Enyan life encodes for 21 amino acids, with some codon redundancy.

Fuculonucleic chiralene

Fuculonucleic chiralene.

FNC (fuculonucleic chiralene) is the genetic polymer found in Atahualpan life. It is superficially reminiscent of DNA/RNA in its double-stranded, ladder-like conformation, where each monomer on one strand is bound to its respective enantiomer on the other. Codons are 3 monomers long, which gives 64 combinations, the second highest number behind INDs' 256. Similarly to Maayan life, amino acid count stops well before filling all codon combinations, only encoding for 28 amino acids, the highest of any known biota. In another similarity to maiabiota, atavalpobiota are also highly susceptible to protein misfolding events.

Mutations mainly come in the form of epimerisation, where one monomer spontaneously becomes its own chiral enantiomer. Repair enzymes can detect these errors as a pair of the same enantiomer is not allowed, but they are incapable of independently recognising which monomer needs to be re-epimerised. The typical solution to this problem is, as in DNA, strand age marking, although this doesn't arrive without errors.

Glyconucleic acid

Glyconucleic acid.

GNA (glyconucleic acid) is the genetic storage polymer used by Celianese life. It consists of a glycol-phosphate backbone and two discrete nucleobases (2-amino-8-(2-thienyl)purine and 2-pyridone), forming Watson-Crick base pairs that combine into 4-base codons. This means that life in Celiane produces the fewest number of amino acids of any known biochemistry by far (only 12: Gly, Pro, Cys, His, Ser, Ala, Leu, Glu, Arg, Tyr, Gln, Val). The lack of amino acids is compensated by other macromolecules and cofactors (vitamins, minerals, organometallic compounds) filling the same niches.

As a result of this, Celianese organisms' biological processes tend to be strikingly different:

• Neural pathways are simpler and much more reliant on electrical synapses (over chemical).
• Immune systems are enzymatic rather than cellular.
• Fewer, simpler proteins entail fewer chances for misfolding and protein aggregation, rendering diseases akin to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, etc., exceedingly rare, almost impossible.
• Faster, simpler biosynthetic processes lead to advantages such as faster wound healing and tissue regeneration.
• High-metal-cofactor systems require high-metal-content diets, specifically iron, copper, zinc, manganese and especially magnesium.
• Structures that might be keratinous in CEVO group organisms (fur, hair, claws, nails...) are instead primarily chitinous.
• Better chemical sensing capabilities due to higher cofactor diversity.

Inositol nucleic disc

Single IND. Position 2 is depicted darker and longer to denote its importance for hosting the start-stop group.

Inositol nucleic discs (abbreviated INDs) are the main Maayan genetic information storage chemical. They are near-flat wheels, a central cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexol (myo-inositol) molecule in the middle, with positions 2, 3, 5 and 6 recording information by changing groups (methyl, amino, carboxyl and hydroxyl). These discs are stacked together in long cylindrical polymers, similar to DNA, linking together in positions 1 and 4 through phosphate groups. Position 2, being axial, serves as a start/stop point for enzymes reading the information.

With 4 states possible per 4 positions, the possible disc combinations add up to a total of 256. However, despite the large number of combinations, the genome only encodes for around 26 amino acids, with many disc configurations being redundant. This implies that there is a hard limit of possible amino acid biosynthesis pathways. The leading theory is that ancestral lifeforms on Maaya encoded for many more amino acids, but only those with few remained, while every other evolutionary line perished due to exponentially more frequent and deadly protein misfolding and Alzheimer's-like aggregation events. As proteins became bigger and more complex, there were more opportunities for them to synthesise wrong. Even today, one of the top death causes among amono is ACS (amono cerebrosclerosis, the hardening of brain tissue due to massive protein aggregation), almost as common as cancer.

INDs are highly mutation-resistant as a result of their chemical stability. However, genetic repair enzymes on Maaya are much less efficient than their CEVO group equivalents (the biological unit group that includes World and Earth cells), making it easier for a mutation to slip through and become a permanent, inheritable part of the genome.

A common genetic issue is the sticking together of the oppositely-charged carboxyl and amino groups in the genome. This condition (called cytoplasmic potassium salt deficiency or CPSD) arises from imbalances in the usually potassium-salt-rich nuclear cytoplasm, which shields these groups from interacting. The IND strands become tangled and unreadable, leading to cells undergoing rapid necrosis if K-salts (especially potassium sulfate) are not reintroduced into the system.

Nucleic laminar polymer

Visual representation of Kannoan FNLP.

NLPs (nucleic laminar polymers), chiefly genetic tape or genetic laminar, are the main Kannoan and Clannadian genetic information storage chemicals. They are long, flat molecular ribbons that store information through patterns utilising two chemicals, the bases. These bases form two- (in simpler organisms) to six-base-wide lines (in most multicellular life) that go horizontally across the tape's width.

An important distinguishing factor of NLPs is their continuous-pattern genomes: each line in the genetic code influences the next. Sequences of lines form semi-predictable combinations, owing to the tendency of their bases to form labyrinthine chemical patterns. This pattern-based structure is inherently self-healing, in that, were a mutation to occur, enzymes would rapidly recognise it and rearrange the molecules to match the surrounding pattern. However, this system is not perfect, and lines that are "close enough" to matching are left as-is. This provides the NLPs with ample room to mutate and adapt to environmental constraints.

Kannoan FNLP (fuconucleic laminar polymer) uses fucose backbones and 2-aminopyrimidine and 2,4-dioxopyrimidine for data encoding, while Clannadian RNLP (ribonucleic laminar polymer) uses ribose backbones, much like RNA. These two biochemistries are fundamentally incompatible:

• Kannoan FNLP is typically six bases wide, while Clannadian RNLP usually has only five.
• Even in sequences with the same width, the same base combinations encode for different amino acids.

Nucleic polycobaltocene

NPC visualised.

Nucleic polycobaltocene (NPC for short) is the main method of genetic encoding in Arai. Unlike all other known life taxa, Arai life is unique in its use of the inherent magnetic properties of different metal ion oxidation states for data storage, instead of chemical reactions. This works due to the planet's freezing cold temperatures helping to maintain magnetic properties stable, and the use of ammonia as a solvent instead of water.

NPC makes use of cobalt in three distinct oxidation states: the diamagnetic Co⁺ and Co³⁺ and the paramagnetic Co²⁺. These cobalt ions are bound together by cyclopentadienyl anions in a Co-Cp-Co-Cp-[...] structure, giving the molecule a slightly twisting rod shape. "Codons" in this system are 3 cobalts long, thus allowing for 27 combinations that encode a total of 18 amino acids. Mutations are known to happen, primarily in the form of oxidation state changes (Co³⁺ ↔ Co²⁺ ↔ Co⁺). Due to its molecular structure as a polymetallocene, NPC is the thinnest genetic polymer known to exist.

Metabolic strains have led Arai life to find ways to greatly regulate cobalt levels in their cytoplasm. The main distinguishing feature of cobonephrotes (the domain containing the extinct organic stage nene) is the development of a specialised organelle, the cobonephrus, which regulates cobalt levels in the cell, filtering out excess and warning the organism whenever there is a deficiency. Other cellular characteristics include acrylonitrile cell membranes and polyphosphazene cell walls.

Due to the very nature of NPC's data storage, high temperatures and strong magnetic fields might tear apart the genome, leading to effects similar to radiation exposure.

Energy storage

Flavin mononucleotide

Flavin mononucleotide is used in Kanno as an energy carrier. It is a redox carrier: it stores energy as FMNH₂, and releases it by reoxidising back into FMN. The high oxygen atmosphere of Kanno contributes to the use of FMN as molecular oxygen is the terminal electron acceptor, guaranteeing continuous energy turnover. A byproduct of the O₂ reduction involved in this metabolic process is reactive oxygen species. This is counteracted by antioxidative metabolic processes which have evolved independently several times in nearly all taxa of Kanno. One of these, almost universal in all Kannoan flora, is lycopene, generated abundantly by the native flora of the planet as both a photosynthetic pigment and an antioxidant. Many herbivorous species are dependent on lycopene as a result, and have de-evolved ancestral, less efficient antioxidative systems.

Hydrazine

Hydrazine (N₂H₄) is the energy storage molecule used by the biota of Arai. It oxidises to molecular nitrogen as its terminal reaction, which itself is what Arai life depends on for respiration, thereby completing a metabolic loop.

Polyphosphate chains

Polyphosphates are the energy storage macromolecules used in the biota of Celiane. They are inorganic polymers with several points of cleavage, whose energy potential scales with their length. Any number of units may be cleaved at once, a mechanism exploited by zoabiota for precise energy spending and control. Phosphorus is therefore central to Zoan life, and is both a high-importance dietary requirement and the main metabolic waste product.

Sphrigocalcin

Life on Maaya utilises a specialised molecule named sphrigocalcin for energy storage. It binds three calcium ions which are then spent by releasing them into the cytoplasm. Maayan life therefore has a high need for calcium salts. Due to its high metabolic priority, Maayan life has evolved extremely efficient calcium recycling systems, and as such is rarely excreted. Sphrigocalcin itself is heavier than ATP, and its ratio of energy-per-mass is lower. Maayan life compensates by having larger, more specialised proteins which accomplish more tasks at once for less energy spent. The large 26-amino-acid proteome of maiabiota is likely a result of this energy constraint.