Geochemical Continuity and Catalyst/Cofactor Replacement in the Emergence and Evolution of Life - Archive ouverte HAL Access content directly
Journal Articles Angewandte Chemie International Edition Year : 2018

Geochemical Continuity and Catalyst/Cofactor Replacement in the Emergence and Evolution of Life

Abstract

The origin of life is mostly divided into "genetics first" and "metabolism first" hypotheses. The former is based on spark-tube tests and organics from meteorites and comets and proposes a heterotrophic origin of life also consistent with the "RNA World" concept. The "metabolism first" hypothesis posits that life began autotrophically on minerals and/or hydrothermal vents. Due to the lack of direct evidence it is not possible to lend solid support to either hypothesis but the "metabolism first" option can be explored if a continuous geochemical, catalytically dynamic process is assumed. Using this approach, I speculate that purine and pyrimidine synthesis originated on a mineral surface, which was later replaced by ATP. The same applies to redox processes where metal bound hydrides could have been replaced by NAD.
Not file

Dates and versions

hal-01871597 , version 1 (11-09-2018)

Identifiers

Cite

Juan-Carlos Fontecilla-Camps. Geochemical Continuity and Catalyst/Cofactor Replacement in the Emergence and Evolution of Life. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2018, ⟨10.1002/anie.201808438⟩. ⟨hal-01871597⟩
76 View
0 Download

Altmetric

Share

Gmail Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More