Potential Role of Inorganic Confined Environments in Prebiotic Phosphorylation

Dass, Avinash Vicholous; Jaber, Maguy; Brack, Andrè; Foucher, Frédéric; Kee, Terence P.; Georgelin, Thomas; Westall, Francès

doi:10.3390/life8010007

Cited by 35 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(114 reference statements)

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“…The ionic diameter of the phosphate ion at 0.48 nm, considerably exceeding those of the interlayer galleries at ~0.3 nm, causes it to block the GR margins and inhibit its oxidation [ 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 ]. However, orthophosphate (Pi) has also been demonstrated to intercalate into hydrotalcite where it raises the normal gallery height to 0.37 nm [ 214 , 215 ]. We speculate that protons ramming from the acidulous ocean would drive a portion of this phosphate into the hydrous interlayers of the green rust DLH[ 4 , 18 , 214 , 215 ].…”

Section: Green Rust—the First Organizing Nanoengine Of Life?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, orthophosphate (Pi) has also been demonstrated to intercalate into hydrotalcite where it raises the normal gallery height to 0.37 nm [ 214 , 215 ]. We speculate that protons ramming from the acidulous ocean would drive a portion of this phosphate into the hydrous interlayers of the green rust DLH[ 4 , 18 , 214 , 215 ]. Once there, it could be forced to polymerize—the external proton gradient driving a strong pyrophosphate/orthophosphate (PPi:Pi) disequilibrium [ 18 ].…”

Section: Green Rust—the First Organizing Nanoengine Of Life?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?

Russell

2018

Life

126

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Korenaga and coworkers presented evidence to suggest that the Earth’s mantle was dry and water filled the ocean to twice its present volume 4.3 billion years ago. Carbon dioxide was constantly exhaled during the mafic to ultramafic volcanic activity associated with magmatic plumes that produced the thick, dense, and relatively stable oceanic crust. In that setting, two distinct and major types of sub-marine hydrothermal vents were active: ~400 °C acidic springs, whose effluents bore vast quantities of iron into the ocean, and ~120 °C, highly alkaline, and reduced vents exhaling from the cooler, serpentinizing crust some distance from the heads of the plumes. When encountering the alkaline effluents, the iron from the plume head vents precipitated out, forming mounds likely surrounded by voluminous exhalative deposits similar to the banded iron formations known from the Archean. These mounds and the surrounding sediments, comprised micro or nano-crysts of the variable valence FeII/FeIII oxyhydroxide known as green rust. The precipitation of green rust, along with subsidiary iron sulfides and minor concentrations of nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum in the environment at the alkaline springs, may have established both the key bio-syntonic disequilibria and the means to properly make use of them—the elements needed to effect the essential inanimate-to-animate transitions that launched life. Specifically, in the submarine alkaline vent model for the emergence of life, it is first suggested that the redox-flexible green rust micro- and nano-crysts spontaneously precipitated to form barriers to the complete mixing of carbonic ocean and alkaline hydrothermal fluids. These barriers created and maintained steep ionic disequilibria. Second, the hydrous interlayers of green rust acted as engines that were powered by those ionic disequilibria and drove essential endergonic reactions. There, aided by sulfides and trace elements acting as catalytic promoters and electron transfer agents, nitrate could be reduced to ammonia and carbon dioxide to formate, while methane may have been oxidized to methyl and formyl groups. Acetate and higher carboxylic acids could then have been produced from these C1 molecules and aminated to amino acids, and thence oligomerized to offer peptide nests to phosphate and iron sulfides, and secreted to form primitive amyloid-bounded structures, leading conceivably to protocells.

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Section: Green Rust—the First Organizing Nanoengine Of Life?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Green Rust—the First Organizing Nanoengine Of Life?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?

Russell

2018

Life

126

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“…Improvements in isolation and compartmentalization might evolve along the path of gels [ 100 ] or coacervates, eventually to micelles composed of amphiphilic molecules to form protocells [ 101 ]. It might not even be necessary that all protocells are equivalent or fully configured, as long as they are able to interchange products with complementary protocells.…”

Section: Emergence Of Life In the Pondmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comet Pond II: Synergistic Intersection of Concentrated Extraterrestrial Materials and Planetary Environments to Form Procreative Darwinian Ponds

Clark

Kolb

2018

Life

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In the “comet pond” model, a rare combination of circumstances enables the entry and landing of pristine organic material onto a planetary surface with the creation of a pond by a soft impact and melting of entrained ices. Formation of the constituents of the comet in the cold interstellar medium and our circumstellar disk results in multiple constituents at disequilibrium which undergo rapid chemical reactions in the warmer, liquid environment. The planetary surface also provides minerals and atmospheric gases which chemically interact with the pond’s organic- and trace-element-rich constituents. Pond physical morphology and the heterogeneities imposed by gravitational forces (bottom sludge; surface scum) and weather result in a highly heterogeneous variety of macro- and microenvironments. Wet/dry, freeze/thaw, and natural chromatography processes further promote certain reaction sequences. Evaporation concentrates organics less volatile than water. Freezing concentrates all soluble organics into a residual liquid phase, including CH3OH, HCN, etc. The pond’s evolutionary processes culminate in the creation of a Macrobiont with the metabolically equivalent capabilities of energy transduction and replication of RNA (or its progenitor informational macromolecule), from which smaller organisms can emerge. Planet-wide dispersal of microorganisms is achieved through wind transport, groundwater, and/or spillover from the pond into surface hydrologic networks.

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“…Once there, it could be forced to polymerize -the external proton gradient driving a strong pyrophosphate/orthophosphate (PPi:Pi) disequilibrium. [16,172] Phosphorylation of organic products of redox reactions involving carbon might then ensue. [16] The resulting gaps in the phosphate surrounds to the green rust will be instantly healed as more phosphate is attracted to the positively charged exterior.…”

Section: Green Rust -The First Organizing Nanoengine Of Life?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?  <strong> </strong>

Russell

2018

Preprint

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The most important problem of synthetic biology is…the reduction of carbonic acid. and Without the idea of spontaneous generation and a physical theory of life, the doctrine of evolution is a mutilated hypothesis without unity or cohesion.[1] Leduc, [1]Abstract: Korenaga and coworkers present evidence to suggest that 4.3 billion years ago the Earth's mantle was dry and water filled the ocean to twice its present volume.[2] CO2 was constantly exhaled during the mafic to ultramafic volcanic activity associated with magmatic plumes that produced the thick, dense and relatively stable oceanic crust. In that setting two distinct major types of sub-marine hydrothermal vents were active: ~400°C acidic springs whose effluents bore vast quantities of iron into the ocean, and ~120°C, highly alkaline and reduced vents exhaling from the cooler, serpentinizing crust at some distance from the heads of the plumes. When encountering the alkaline effluents, the iron from the plume head vents precipitated out forming mounds likely surrounded by voluminous exhalative deposits similar to the banded iron formations known from the Archean. These mounds and the surrounding sediments likely comprising nanocrysts of the variable valence FeII/FeIII oxyhydroxide, green rust. The precipitation of green rust, along with subsidiary iron sulfides and minor concentrations of Ni, Co and Mo in the environment at the alkaline springs may have established both the key bio-syntonic disequilibria, and the means to properly make use of them -those needed to drive the essential inanimate-to-animate transitions that launched life. In the submarine alkaline vent model for the emergence of life specifically it is first suggested that the redox-flexible green rust microcrysts spontaneously formed precipitated barriers to the complete mixing of carbonic ocean and alkaline hydrothermal fluids, barriers that created and maintained steep ionic disequilibria; and second, that the hydrous interlayers of green rust acted as 'engines' that were powered by those ionic disequilibria and drove essential endergonic reactions. There, aided by sulfides and trace elements acting as catalytic promoters and electron transfer agents, nitrate could be reduced to ammonia and carbon dioxide to formate, while methane may have been oxidized to methyl and formyl groups. Acetate and higher carboxylic acids could then have been produced from these C1 molecules and aminated to amino acids, and thence oligomerized to offer peptide nests to phosphate and iron sulfides and secreted to form primitive amyloid-bounded structures, leading conceivably to protocells.

show abstract

Potential Role of Inorganic Confined Environments in Prebiotic Phosphorylation

Cited by 35 publications

References 70 publications

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?

Comet Pond II: Synergistic Intersection of Concentrated Extraterrestrial Materials and Planetary Environments to Form Procreative Darwinian Ponds

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?  <strong> </strong>

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Potential Role of Inorganic Confined Environments in Prebiotic Phosphorylation

Cited by 35 publications

References 70 publications

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life?

Comet Pond II: Synergistic Intersection of Concentrated Extraterrestrial Materials and Planetary Environments to Form Procreative Darwinian Ponds

Green Rust: The Simple Organizing &lsquo;Seed&rsquo; of All Life?&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong> </strong>

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Green Rust: The Simple Organizing ‘Seed’ of All Life? <strong> </strong>