Co-evolution of trace elements and life in Precambrian oceans: The pyrite edition

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 1018-1022
Author(s):  
Indrani Mukherjee ◽  
Ross R. Large
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Redox State ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Biological Responses ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Marked Decline ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Middle Proterozoic

Abstract The significance of trace elements in initiating origins and driving evolution of life on Earth is indisputable. Trace element (TE) trends in the oceans through time broadly reflect their availability and allow speculation on all possible influences on early life. A comprehensive sedimentary pyrite–TE database, covering 3000 m.y. of the Precambrian, has improved our understanding of the sequence of bio-essential TE availability in the ocean. This study probed how changing availability (and scarcity) of critical TEs in the marine environment influenced early life. The pyrite-shale matrix TE sequence shows relatively elevated concentrations of Ni, Co, Cu, and Fe, Cr, respectively, in the Archean and Paleoproterozoic. Abundances of these elements in the Archean potentially facilitated their widespread utilization by prokaryotes. The Paleoproterozoic–Mesoproterozoic saw increases in Zn and Mo but a marked decline in Ni, Co, Cu, Se, and Fe. Our data suggest the evolution of the first complex cell in the Paleoproterozoic was probably triggered by this major change in TE composition of the oceans. A decline of elements prompted alternative utilization strategies by organisms as a response to TE deficits in the middle Proterozoic. An overall increase in a multitude of elements (Ni, Co, Cu, Cr, Se, V, Mo, and P) in the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian was highly advantageous to the various micro– and macro–life forms. Without questioning the importance of macronutrients and atmosphere-ocean redox state, multi-TE availability would have induced substantial heterogenous biological responses, owing to the effects of optimal, deficient, toxic, lethal, and survival levels of TEs on life.

Metal Hyperaccumulator Plants and Environmental Pollution

2018 ◽  
pp. 305-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satish Chandra ◽  
Yogendra Singh Gusain ◽  
Arun Bhatt
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Metal Hyperaccumulation ◽  
Pioneer Plants ◽  
Potentially Toxic Trace Elements ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Angiosperm Species ◽  
Life On Earth

During evolutionary history of life on Earth, different life forms have undergone harsh environmental conditions. Plants have evolved multiple life forms and some of the specialist pioneer plants have the ability to colonize in hostile environmental conditions. Some plant taxa have the ability to accumulate high concentrations of potentially toxic trace elements (Ni, Zn, Cd, Se, As, Mn, Co, Cu, Pb, Sb, Tl) in their biomass. In some of these, taxa concentration of trace elements exceeds the concentration of macronutrients (e.g., Ca, K). Furthermore, metal hyperaccumulation is strongly associated with enhanced ability of these plants to detoxify the accumulated metal in the tissues. Such hyperaccumulation property has been reported in a total of approximately 500 Angiosperm species. This ability of the plants can be used for pollutant stabilization, extraction, degradation, or volatilization. The present chapter discusses heavy metals uptake mechanisms by plants and the potential of phytoremediation technique on treating heavy metal contaminated sides.

scholarly journals BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE IN METEORITES MAY LEAD TO PANSPERMIA ORIGIN OF LIFE

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Y. V. Subba Rao
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Electromagnetic Force ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Biological Molecules ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
The Universe

              The current hypothesis leads to the panspermia origin of life, which is based on the scientific principle of electromagnetic force interaction with matter. Electromagnetic force (Sunlight) interacts with inorganic chemistry available to us given out by the stars in the universe plausibly triggers the formation of extra-terrestrial biological molecules of proto cells under abiotic conditions, as evidenced by their presence in meteorites.' Proto cells’ might theoretically give rise to living organisms with a manifested soul, allowing 'Ribose' to be formed from ice grains hit by sunlight for RNA and DNA at the same time. The presence of life's building blocks and other important organic chemicals like ribose in meteorites, including some microscopic life forms that aren't native to Earth, may have led to the 'Panspermia Origin of Life' and the 'Evolution of Life on Earth' which is evidenced by the definition of 'Meteorites' in Vedic Scriptures, such as the "Bhagavad Gita" (3000 BC) and "Brihat Samhita" (520 AD) that they are the souls of righteous people who have returned to earth to be reborn.

Evolution of Life

Evolution ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Life Forms ◽  
Origins Of Life ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Life On Earth

Can we say how life on earth started? The origins of life on earth must predate the earliest fossils, and presumably must be simpler in form than even those earliest fossils. It is very unlikely that we will ever know what these life forms were,...

scholarly journals Viroids-First—A Model for Life on Earth, Mars and Exoplanets

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Moelling ◽  
Felix Broecker
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Darwinian Evolution ◽  
Extraterrestrial Life ◽  
Cellular Life ◽  
Non Coding Rna ◽  
Virus Research ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Biological Entities ◽  
Emergence Of Life

The search for extraterrestrial life, recently fueled by the discovery of exoplanets, requires defined biosignatures. Current biomarkers include those of extremophilic organisms, typically archaea. Yet these cellular organisms are highly complex, which makes it unlikely that similar life forms evolved on other planets. Earlier forms of life on Earth may serve as better models for extraterrestrial life. On modern Earth, the simplest and most abundant biological entities are viroids and viruses that exert many properties of life, such as the abilities to replicate and undergo Darwinian evolution. Viroids have virus-like features, and are related to ribozymes, consisting solely of non-coding RNA, and may serve as more universal models for early life than do cellular life forms. Among the various proposed concepts, such as “proteins-first” or “metabolism-first”, we think that “viruses-first” can be specified to “viroids-first” as the most likely scenario for the emergence of life on Earth, and possibly elsewhere. With this article we intend to inspire the integration of virus research and the biosignatures of viroids and viruses into the search for extraterrestrial life.

Pyrite and the Origins of Life

Pyrite ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rickard
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Origins Of Life ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Ancient India ◽  
Pyrite Formation ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
The Relationship

If you have been reading this book since the beginning, you will not be surprised by now to find that you have come across a chapter documenting the involvement of pyrite in the origin of life. This is because you will have read in this book how pyrite has been at the root of many fundamental discoveries about the nature of our world. So you do not suffer more than eyebrow-raising surprise and maybe a gentle throat-clearing in learning that pyrite is contributing to our current understanding of the origins of life. By contrast, if you have dived in at Chapter 9 you probably look at the title of this chapter with disbelief. After all, what could be the connection between a common glitzy mineral and the origin of life? The more diligent reader will have already learned that pyrite formation is intimately associated with biology because most of it is produced by bacteria that extract their oxygen from sulfate and produce hydrogen sulfide. This relationship is so overweening today that pyrite formation controls many fundamental aspects of the Earth’s environment. So what happens if we extend this line of inquiry back to the beginnings of geologic time? We have already seen that the characteristics of ancient pyrite are one of the main sources of information about the nature of the early Earth. The consequence of this is that we know quite a bit about the relationship between pyrite and early life on Earth. In this chapter, we further explore this and review the laboratory work that implicates pyrite itself in the original syntheses of the self-replicating biomolecules that assembled to produce Earth’s first life forms. The thesis that life developed from nonbiological chemistry is a very old idea stretching back through Anaximander in 6th-century BCE Greece to the Vedic writings of ancient India around 1500 BCE and is often called abiogenesis.

Biomimicry: An Overview of Structures, Designs and Materials Inspired from Nature

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
Arunachalam Vasanthanathan ◽  
Uthirakumar Siddharth ◽  
Manivannan Vignesh ◽  
Radhakrishnan Pravin
Keyword(s):  
Life Forms ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Imaging ◽  
Technological Growth ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Large Scope ◽  
Product Effectiveness ◽  
Water Turbines ◽  
Principle Objective

Background: Nature has always played a vital role in the evolution of life forms. The design of products in accordance with nature’s design, popularly known as biomimicry, had played a vital role in pushing the technology and product effectiveness to the next level. Humans have long sought to mimic not just the design, but also the methodology adopted by certain animals. For example, the walking technique of vertebrates has been effectively mimicked for a quadruped robot to make a system more efficient by consuming less power. Thus indirectly, nature acts as a driving factor in pushing technological growth. Methods: The principle objective of this paper is to provide an overview of popular bio mimicked products inspired by nature. This paper emphasizes a wide variety of products developed in the field of materials inspired by nature. Results: Wall-climbing robots, Sonar, X-ray imaging, Sandwich and Honeycomb structures are some of the popular products and designs inspired by nature. They have resulted in better designs, better products with improved efficiency and thus have proven to be better alternatives. Some products and designs such as Samara drone, Riblet surfaces, DSSCs, Biomimetic Drills and Water turbines have plenty of scopes to replace conventional products and designs. Conclusion: While plenty of products, structures and designs have successfully replaced older alternatives, there is still a large scope for biomimicry where it could potentially replace conventional products and designs to offer better efficiency.

3.43 billion-year-old stromatolite reef from the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia: Ecosystem-scale insights to early life on Earth

2007 ◽  
Vol 158 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 198-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail C. Allwood ◽  
Malcolm R. Walter ◽  
Ian W. Burch ◽  
Balz S. Kamber
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Pilbara Craton

Mineral photoelectrons and their implications for the origin and early evolution of life on Earth

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
AnHuai Lu ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
HongRui Ding ◽  
ChangQiu Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Life On Earth
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