Chapter 1 Why are hydrothermal systems proposed as plausible environments for the origin of life?

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils G. Holm
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
The Origin Of Life

scholarly journals Impact-Induced Hydrothermal Systems on Early Earth: CH4 Production and the Origin of Life

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazumu Kaneko ◽  
Yasuhito Sekine ◽  
Takazo Shibuya ◽  
Hisahiro Ueda ◽  
Natsumi Noda
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Ch4 Production ◽  
The Origin Of Life

scholarly journals Spontaneous assembly of redox-active iron-sulfur clusters at low concentrations of cysteine

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean F. Jordan ◽  
Ioannis Ioannou ◽  
Hanadi Rammu ◽  
Aaron Halpern ◽  
Lara K. Bogart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Transfer ◽  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Cluster Formation ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Salting Out ◽  
Mononuclear Iron ◽  
Iron Sulfur ◽  
Redox Active ◽  
Vis Spectroscopy ◽  
The Origin Of Life

AbstractIron-sulfur (FeS) proteins are ancient and fundamental to life, being involved in electron transfer and CO2 fixation. FeS clusters have structures similar to the unit-cell of FeS minerals such as greigite, found in hydrothermal systems linked with the origin of life. However, the prebiotic pathway from mineral surfaces to biological clusters is unknown. Here we show that FeS clusters form spontaneously through interactions of inorganic Fe2+/Fe3+ and S2− with micromolar concentrations of the amino acid cysteine in water at alkaline pH. Bicarbonate ions stabilize the clusters and even promote cluster formation alone at concentrations >10 mM, probably through salting-out effects. We demonstrate robust, concentration-dependent formation of [4Fe4S], [2Fe2S] and mononuclear iron clusters using UV-Vis spectroscopy, 57Fe-Mössbauer spectroscopy and 1H-NMR. Cyclic voltammetry shows that the clusters are redox-active. Our findings reveal that the structures responsible for biological electron transfer and CO2 reduction could have formed spontaneously from monomers at the origin of life.

scholarly journals Thioester synthesis through geoelectrochemical CO2 fixation on Ni sulfides

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Norio Kitadai ◽  
Ryuhei Nakamura ◽  
Masahiro Yamamoto ◽  
Satoshi Okada ◽  
Wataru Takahagi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Nickel Sulfide ◽  
Co2 Fixation ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Standard Hydrogen Electrode ◽  
Hydrogen Electrode ◽  
The Origin Of Life

AbstractA prevailing scenario of the origin of life postulates thioesters as key intermediates in protometabolism, but there is no experimental support for the prebiotic CO2 fixation routes to thioesters. Here we demonstrate that, under a simulated geoelectrochemical condition in primordial ocean hydrothermal systems (–0.6 to –1.0 V versus the standard hydrogen electrode), nickel sulfide (NiS) gradually reduces to Ni0, while accumulating surface-bound carbon monoxide (CO) due to CO2 electroreduction. The resultant partially reduced NiS realizes thioester (S-methyl thioacetate) formation from CO and methanethiol even at room temperature and neutral pH with the yield up to 35% based on CO. This thioester formation is not inhibited, or even improved, by 50:50 coprecipitation of NiS with FeS or CoS (the maximum yields; 27 or 56%, respectively). Such a simple thioester synthesis likely occurred in Hadean deep-sea vent environments, setting a stage for the autotrophic origin of life.

scholarly journals Exploring the Kamchatka Geothermal Region in the Context of Life’s Beginning

Life ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Vladimir N. Kompanichenko
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Hot Spring ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Organic Composition ◽  
Temperature Oscillations ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Geothermal Region ◽  
Hydrothermal Water

This article is a brief review of research in the Kamchatka geothermal region initiated by David Deamer and the author in 1999. Results obtained over the last 20 years are described, including a seminal experiment in which biologically important organic compounds were dispersed in a hot spring to determine their fate. Other investigations include ionic and organic composition of hydrothermal water, the source of hydrothermally generated oil, and pressure–temperature oscillations in hydrothermal systems. The relation of these results to research on the origin of life is discussed.

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