Origin and Evolution of Photosynthesis

Blankenship, Robert E.

doi:10.1002/9780470758472.ch11

Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis 2002

DOI: 10.1002/9780470758472.ch11

|View full text |Cite

Origin and Evolution of Photosynthesis

Robert E. Blankenship

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2002

2015

Publication Types

Select...

Article4

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent4

Authors

Journals

Cited by 4 publications

References 113 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Energy Transduction Inside of Amphiphilic Vesicles: Encapsulation of Photochemically Active Semiconducting Particles

Summers

Noveron

Basa

2009

Orig Life Evol Biosph

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Amphiphilic bilayer membrane structures (vesicles) have been postulated to have been abiotically formed and spontaneously assemble on the prebiotic Earth, providing compartmentalization for the origin of life. These vesicles are similar to modern cellular membranes and can serve to contain water-soluble species, concentrate species, and have the potential to catalyze reactions. The origin of the use of photochemical energy in metabolism (i.e. energy transduction) is one of the central issues in the origin of life. This includes such questions as how energy transduction may have occurred before complex enzymatic systems, such as required by contemporary photosynthesis, had developed and how simple a photochemical system is possible. It has been postulated that vesicle structures developed the ability to capture and transduce light, providing energy for reactions. It has also been shown that pH gradients across the membrane surface can be photochemically created, but coupling these to drive chemical reactions has been difficult. Colloidal semiconducting mineral particles are known to photochemically drive redox chemistry. We propose that encapsulation of these particles has the potential to provide a source of energy transduction inside vesicles, and thereby drive protocellular chemistry, and represents a model system for early photosynthesis. In our experiments we show that TiO2 particles, in the approximately 20 nm size range, can be incorporated into vesicles and retain their photoactivity through the dehydration/rehydration cycles that have been shown to concentrate species inside a vesicle.

show abstract

Energy Transduction Inside of Amphiphilic Vesicles: Encapsulation of Photochemically Active Semiconducting Particles

Summers

Noveron

Basa

2009

Orig Life Evol Biosph

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Vesicle Encapsulation of a Nonbiological Photochemical System Capable of Reducing NAD⁺ to NADH

Summers

Rodoni

2015

Langmuir

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

One of the fundamental structures of a cell is the membrane. Self-assembling lipid bilayer vesicles can form the membrane of an artificial cell and could also have plausibly assembled prebiotically for the origin of life. Such cell-like structures, that encapsulate some basic subset of the functions of living cells, are important for research to infer the minimum chemistry necessary for a cell, to help understand the origin of life, and to allow the production of useful species in microscopic containers. We show that the encapsulation of TiO2 particles has the potential to provide the basis for an energy transduction system inside vesicles which can be used to drive subsequent chemistry. TiO2 encapsulated in vesicles can be used to produce biochemical species such as NADH. The NADH is formed from NAD(+) reduction and is produced in a form that is able to drive further enzymatic chemistry. This allows us to link a mineral-based, nonbiological photosystem to biochemical reactions. This is a fundamental step toward being able to use this mineral photosystem in a protocell/artificial cell.

show abstract

A possible evolutionary origin for the Mn ₄ cluster of the photosynthetic water oxidation complex from natural MnO ₂ precipitates in the early ocean

Sauer

Yachandra

2002

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Origin and Evolution of Photosynthesis

Cited by 4 publications

References 113 publications

Energy Transduction Inside of Amphiphilic Vesicles: Encapsulation of Photochemically Active Semiconducting Particles

Energy Transduction Inside of Amphiphilic Vesicles: Encapsulation of Photochemically Active Semiconducting Particles

Vesicle Encapsulation of a Nonbiological Photochemical System Capable of Reducing NAD⁺ to NADH

A possible evolutionary origin for the Mn ₄ cluster of the photosynthetic water oxidation complex from natural MnO ₂ precipitates in the early ocean

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Origin and Evolution of Photosynthesis

Cited by 4 publications

References 113 publications

Energy Transduction Inside of Amphiphilic Vesicles: Encapsulation of Photochemically Active Semiconducting Particles

Energy Transduction Inside of Amphiphilic Vesicles: Encapsulation of Photochemically Active Semiconducting Particles

Vesicle Encapsulation of a Nonbiological Photochemical System Capable of Reducing NAD+ to NADH

A possible evolutionary origin for the Mn 4 cluster of the photosynthetic water oxidation complex from natural MnO 2 precipitates in the early ocean

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Vesicle Encapsulation of a Nonbiological Photochemical System Capable of Reducing NAD⁺ to NADH

A possible evolutionary origin for the Mn ₄ cluster of the photosynthetic water oxidation complex from natural MnO ₂ precipitates in the early ocean