Radiation chemical aspects of the origins of life

Cataldo, Franco; Iglesias‐Groth, Susana

doi:10.1007/s10967-016-4914-2

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…This results from the chemical diversity pro-duced by water radiolysis (see Eq. 1) and capacity to produce chemical energy comparable with that of the Urey-Miller experiment (Cataldo and Iglesias-Groth, 2017;Ebisuzaki and Maruyama, 2017;Maruyama et al, 2019). Also, as our work details, preliminary analysis showed that some of these natural radioactive environments (NREs) have similar physicochemical conditions when compared with alkaline hydrothermal vent (AHV) systems, now considered one of the most promising environments for the emergence of life (Russell et al, 1989;Martin et al, 2008;Lane and Martin, 2012;Ebisuzaki and Maruyama, 2017;Branscomb and Russell, 2018a The importance of water radiolysis as a source of energy and of chemical species to sustain a living system has already been postulated (Draganic and Draganic, 1971;Draganić et al, 1983;Draganic et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In some of these deep regions, there are natural deposits of radioactive minerals, such as at gold mines of the southern part of Africa (Lippmann et al, 2003;Omar et al, 2003;Adam et al, 2018), or at uranium deposits in Canada (Dubessy et al, 1988;Richard et al, 2012). Recently, it has been proposed that radioactive environments may be an interesting scenario for the emergence of life on early Earth, considering those on the surface (Adam, 2007) or in deep underground (Ebisuzaki and Maruyama, 2017) due to the chemical diversity produced by water radiolysis (see equation 1) and capacity to produce chemical energy comparable to that of the Urey-Miller experiment (Cataldo and Iglesias-Groth, 2017;Ebisuzaki and Maruyama, 2017). Also, as this work details, preliminary analysis showed that some of these natural radioactive environments (NRE) have similar physicochemical conditions when compared to alkaline hydrothermal vents (AHV) systems, now considered one of the most promising environments for the emergence of life (Russell et al, 1989;Sojo et al, 2016;Ebisuzaki and Maruyama, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Natural Radioactive Environments as Sources of Local Disequilibrium for the Emergence of Life

et al. 2020

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Certain subterranean environments of Earth have naturally accumulated longlived radionuclides, such as 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K, near the presence of liquid water. In these natural radioactive environments (NRE), water radiolysis can produce chemical species of biological importance, such as H2. Although the proposal of radioactive decay as an alternative source of energy for living systems has existed for more than thirty years, this hypothesis gained strength after the recent discovery of a peculiar ecosystem in a gold mine in South Africa, whose existence is dependent on chemical species produced by water radiolysis. In this work, we calculate the chemical disequilibrium generated locally by water radiolysis due gamma radiation and analyse the possible contribution of this disequilibrium for the emergence of life, considering conditions of early Earth and having as reference the alkaline hydrothermal vent (AHV) theory. Results from our kinetic model points out the similarities between the conditions caused by water radiolysis and those found on alkaline hydrothermal systems. Our model produces a steady increase of pH with time, which favours the precipitation of minerals with catalytic activity for protometabolism, as well as a natural electrochemical gradient in this aqueous environment. In conclusion, we described a possible free-energy conversion mechanism that could be a requisite for emergence of life in Hadean Earth.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Radioactive Environments as Sources of Local Disequilibrium for the Emergence of Life

et al. 2020

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“…The study of nucleoside radiolysis has demonstrated that adenosine and guanosine, which are purine-based, are more resistant to radiolysis compared to cytidine and uridine, which are pyrimidine-based. This explains why adenine and guanine, the parent purine nucleobases, were more readily detected and found in higher concentrations in carbonaceous chondrites than cytosine and uracil, the parent pyrimidine RNA nucleobases [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infrared Spectroscopy of RNA Nucleosides in a Wide Range of Temperatures

Iglesias-Groth,

Cataldo,

Marin-Dobrincic

2024

Life

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The RNA world hypothesis suggests that early cellular ancestors relied solely on RNA molecules for both genetic information storage and cellular functions. RNA, composed of four nucleosides—adenosine, guanosine, cytidine, and uridine—forms the basis of this theory. These nucleosides consist of purine nucleobases, adenine and guanine, and pyrimidine nucleobases, cytosine and uracil, bonded to ribose sugar. Notably, carbonaceous chondrite meteorites have revealed the presence of these bases and sugar, hinting at the potential existence of nucleosides in space. This study aims to present the infrared spectra of four RNA nucleosides commonly found in terrestrial biochemistry, facilitating their detection in space, especially in astrobiological and astrochemical contexts. Laboratory measurements involved obtaining mid- and far-IR spectra at three temperatures (−180 °C, room temperature, and +180 °C), followed by calculating molar extinction coefficients (ε) and integrated molar absorptivities (ψ) for corresponding bands. These spectral data, along with ε and ψ values, serve to provide quantitative insights into the presence and relative abundance of nucleosides in space and aid in their detection.

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Radiolysis and radioracemization of RNA ribonucleosides: implications for the origins of life

Cataldo

2018

J Radioanal Nucl Chem

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Radiation chemical aspects of the origins of life

Cited by 16 publications

References 104 publications

Natural Radioactive Environments as Sources of Local Disequilibrium for the Emergence of Life

Natural Radioactive Environments as Sources of Local Disequilibrium for the Emergence of Life

Infrared Spectroscopy of RNA Nucleosides in a Wide Range of Temperatures

Radiolysis and radioracemization of RNA ribonucleosides: implications for the origins of life

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