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van der Graaf CM, Sánchez-España J, Ilin AM, Yusta I, Stams AJM, Sánchez-Andrea I. Micrometric pyrite catalyzes abiotic sulfidogenesis from elemental sulfur and hydrogen. Sci Rep 2024; 14:17702. [PMID: 39085257 PMCID: PMC11291890 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66006-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in environments with temperatures below 100 °C is generally assumed to be of microbial origin, while abiotic H2S production is typically restricted to higher temperatures (T). In this study, we report an abiotic process for sulfidogenesis through the reduction of elemental sulfur (S0) by hydrogen (H2), mediated by pyrite (FeS2). The process was investigated in detail at pH 4 and 80 °C, but experimental conditions ranged between 40 and 80 °C and pH 4-6. The experiments were conducted with H2 as reducing molecule, and µm-sized spherical (but not framboidal) pyrite particles that formed in situ from the H2S, S0 and Fe2+ present in the experiments. Fe monosulfides, likely mackinawite, were identified as potential pyrite precursors. The absence of H2 production in controls, combined with geochemical modelling, suggests that pyrite formation occurred through the polysulfide pathway, which is unexpected under acidic conditions. Most spherical aggregates of authigenic pyrite were composed of nanometric, acicular crystals oriented in diverse directions, displaying varying degrees of organization. Although it was initially hypothesized that the catalytic properties were related to the surface structure, commercially sourced, milled pyrite particles (< 50 μm) mediated H2S production at comparable rates. This suggests that the catalytic properties of pyrite depend on particle size rather than surface structure, requiring pyrite surfaces to act as electron shuttles between S0 and H2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte M van der Graaf
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Stippeneng 4, 6708 WE, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
- Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geoscience, Department of Geoscience and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628CN, Delft, The Netherlands.
| | - Javier Sánchez-España
- Planetary Geology Research Group, Department of Planetology and Habitability, Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC-INTA), 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Andrey M Ilin
- Department of Geology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Apdo. 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Iñaki Yusta
- Department of Geology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Apdo. 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Alfons J M Stams
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Stippeneng 4, 6708 WE, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal
| | - Irene Sánchez-Andrea
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Stippeneng 4, 6708 WE, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
- Department of Environmental Sciences for Sustainability, IE University, C. Cardenal Zúñiga, 12, 40003, Segovia, Spain.
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2
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Shakeri Yekta S, Svensson BH, Skyllberg U, Schnürer A. Sulfide in engineered methanogenic systems - Friend or foe? Biotechnol Adv 2023; 69:108249. [PMID: 37666371 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
Sulfide ions are regarded to be toxic to microorganisms in engineered methanogenic systems (EMS), where organic substances are anaerobically converted to products such as methane, hydrogen, alcohols, and carboxylic acids. A vast body of research has addressed solutions to mitigate process disturbances associated with high sulfide levels, yet the established paradigm has drawn the attention away from the multifaceted sulfide interactions with minerals, organics, microbial interfaces and their implications for performance of EMS. This brief review brings forward sulfide-derived pathways other than toxicity and with potential significance for anaerobic organic matter degradation. Available evidence on sulfide reactions with organic matter, interventions with key microbial metabolisms, and interspecies electron transfer are critically synthesized as a guidance for comprehending the sulfide effects on EMS apart from the microbial toxicity. The outcomes identify existing knowledge gaps and specify future research needs as a step forward towards realizing the potential of sulfide-derived mechanisms in diversifying and optimizing EMS applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sepehr Shakeri Yekta
- Department of Thematic Studies - Environmental Change, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; Biogas Solutions Research Center, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden.
| | - Bo H Svensson
- Department of Thematic Studies - Environmental Change, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; Biogas Solutions Research Center, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Ulf Skyllberg
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 90183 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Anna Schnürer
- Biogas Solutions Research Center, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala BioCenter, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
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3
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Takahagi W, Okada S, Matsui Y, Ono S, Takai K, Takahashi Y, Kitadai N. Extreme accumulation of ammonia on electroreduced mackinawite: An abiotic ammonia storage mechanism in early ocean hydrothermal systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2303302120. [PMID: 37782799 PMCID: PMC10576140 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303302120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
An increasing amount of evidence suggests that early ocean hydrothermal systems were sustained sources of ammonia, an essential nitrogen species for prebiotic synthesis of life's building blocks. However, it remains a riddle how the abiotically generated ammonia was retained at the vent-ocean interface for the subsequent chemical evolution. Here, we demonstrate that, under simulated geoelectrochemical conditions in early ocean hydrothermal systems ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text] V versus the standard hydrogen electrode), mackinawite gradually reduces to zero-valent iron ([Formula: see text]), generating interlayer [Formula: see text] sites. This reductive conversion leads to an up to 55-fold increase in the solid/liquid partition coefficient for ammonia, enabling over 90% adsorption of 1 mM ammonia in 1 M NaCl at neutral pH. A coordinative binding of ammonia on the interlayer [Formula: see text] sites was computed to be the major mechanism of selective ammonia adsorption. Mackinawite is a ubiquitous sulfide precipitate in submarine hydrothermal systems. Given its reported catalytic function in amination, the extreme accumulation of ammonia on electroreduced mackinawite should have been a crucial initial step for prebiotic nitrogen assimilation, paving the way to the origin of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Takahagi
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-0033, Japan
- Institute for Extra-Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Avant-Garde Research, (X-star), Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka237-0061, Japan
- Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY12180
| | - Satoshi Okada
- Institute for Extra-Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Avant-Garde Research, (X-star), Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka237-0061, Japan
| | - Yohei Matsui
- Research Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka237-0061, Japan
| | - Shigeaki Ono
- Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka237-0061, Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- Institute for Extra-Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Avant-Garde Research, (X-star), Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka237-0061, Japan
| | - Yoshio Takahashi
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-0033, Japan
| | - Norio Kitadai
- Institute for Extra-Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Avant-Garde Research, (X-star), Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka237-0061, Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo152-8550, Japan
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4
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Sugiura Y, Tobita N, Tobita T, Taga M, Nakachi S, Yokota K, Yamada E, Horie M, Momma K, Matsubara S. Oil Inclusions Found in Skeleton Crystals of Quartz Indicated the Existence of Organic Matter Surrounding Ancient Growth Environments. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:21464-21473. [PMID: 37360484 PMCID: PMC10286290 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
In nature, minerals record various origins and information for geology and geobiochemistry. Here, we investigated the origin of organic matter and growth mechanism of quartz with oil inclusion revealing fluorescence under short ultraviolet (UV) light, obtained from the clay vein at Shimanto-cho, Kochi, Shikoku Island, Japan. Geological investigation indicated that the oil-quartz was formed in hydrothermal metamorphic veins found in the late Cretaceous interbedded sandstone and mudstone. The obtained oil-quartz crystals are mostly double-terminated. Micro-X-ray computed tomography (microCT) indicated that oil-quartz crystals have various veins originating as skeleton structures along the quartz crystal {111} and {1-11} faces. Spectroscopic and chromatographic studies indicated that aromatic ester and tetraterpene (lycopene) molecules, which revealed fluorescence, were detected. Large molecular weight sterol molecules, such as C40, were also detected in the vein of oil-quartz. This investigation indicated that organic inclusions in mineral crystals would form with ancient microorganism culture environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Sugiura
- Health
and Medical Research Institute, National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2217-14, Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu 761-3095, Kagawa, Japan
- Research
Planning Office, Headquarters of Department of Life Science and Biotechnology, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science
and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1, Umezono, Tsukuba 305-0035, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Naoko Tobita
- Friends
of Mineral, 4-13-18,
Toyotama-naka, Nerima, Tokyo 176-0013, Japan
| | - Takashi Tobita
- Friends
of Mineral, 4-13-18,
Toyotama-naka, Nerima, Tokyo 176-0013, Japan
| | - Masaru Taga
- Faculty
of Agriculture, Ryukoku University, 1-5, Yokotani, Seta-Ohe, Ohtsu, Shiga, Japan 520-2194
| | - Shu Nakachi
- Natural
History Lab., 120 Suoh-kata, Ohtsuki-Town, Hata, Kochi 788-0313, Japan
| | - Kazumichi Yokota
- Health
and Medical Research Institute, National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2217-14, Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu 761-3095, Kagawa, Japan
| | - Etsuko Yamada
- Health
and Medical Research Institute, National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2217-14, Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu 761-3095, Kagawa, Japan
| | - Masanori Horie
- Health
and Medical Research Institute, National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2217-14, Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu 761-3095, Kagawa, Japan
| | - Koichi Momma
- Department
of Geology and Paleontology, National Museum
of Nature and Science, 4-1-1, Amakubo, Tsukuba 305-0005, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Satoshi Matsubara
- Department
of Geology and Paleontology, National Museum
of Nature and Science, 4-1-1, Amakubo, Tsukuba 305-0005, Ibaraki, Japan
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5
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Spark of Life: Role of Electrotrophy in the Emergence of Life. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:life13020356. [PMID: 36836714 PMCID: PMC9961546 DOI: 10.3390/life13020356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of life has been a subject of intensive research for decades. Different approaches and different environmental "cradles" have been studied, from space to the deep sea. Since the recent discovery of a natural electrical current through deep-sea hydrothermal vents, a new energy source is considered for the transition from inorganic to organic. This energy source (electron donor) is used by modern microorganisms via a new trophic type, called electrotrophy. In this review, we draw a parallel between this metabolism and a new theory for the emergence of life based on this electrical electron flow. Each step of the creation of life is revised in the new light of this prebiotic electrochemical context, going from the evaluation of similar electrical current during the Hadean, the CO2 electroreduction into a prebiotic primordial soup, the production of proto-membranes, the energetic system inspired of the nitrate reduction, the proton gradient, and the transition to a planktonic proto-cell. Finally, this theory is compared to the two other theories in hydrothermal context to assess its relevance and overcome the limitations of each. Many critical factors that were limiting each theory can be overcome given the effect of electrochemical reactions and the environmental changes produced.
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6
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In situ electrosynthetic bacterial growth using electricity generated by a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. THE ISME JOURNAL 2023; 17:12-20. [PMID: 36151459 PMCID: PMC9751133 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01316-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2022] [Revised: 08/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Electroautotrophic microorganisms have attracted great attention since they exhibit a new type of primary production. Here, in situ electrochemical cultivation was conducted using the naturally occurring electromotive forces at a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. The voltage and current generation originating from the resulting microbial activity was observed for 12 days of deployment, with fluctuation in response to tidal cycles. A novel bacterium belonging to the genus Thiomicrorhabdus dominated the microbial community specifically enriched on the cathode. Metagenomic analysis provided the draft genome of the bacterium and the gene repertoire indicated that the bacterium has the potential for thio-autotrophic growth, which is a typical physiological feature of the members of the genus, while the bacterium had a unique gene cluster encoding multi-heme cytochrome c proteins responsible for extracellular electron transfer. Herein, we propose this bacterium as a new species, specifically enriched during electricity generation, as 'Candidatus Thiomicrorhabdus electrophagus'. This finding suggests the natural occurrence of electrosynthetic microbial populations using the geoelectricity in deep-sea hydrothermal environments.
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7
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Edel M, Philipp LA, Lapp J, Reiner J, Gescher J. Electron transfer of extremophiles in bioelectrochemical systems. Extremophiles 2022; 26:31. [PMID: 36222927 PMCID: PMC9556394 DOI: 10.1007/s00792-022-01279-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The interaction of bacteria and archaea with electrodes is a relatively new research field which spans from fundamental to applied research and influences interdisciplinary research in the fields of microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology as well as process engineering. Although a substantial understanding of electron transfer processes between microbes and anodes and between microbes and cathodes has been achieved in mesophilic organisms, the mechanisms used by microbes under extremophilic conditions are still in the early stages of discovery. Here, we review our current knowledge on the biochemical solutions that evolved for the interaction of extremophilic organisms with electrodes. To this end, the available knowledge on pure cultures of extremophilic microorganisms has been compiled and the study has been extended with the help of bioinformatic analyses on the potential distribution of different electron transfer mechanisms in extremophilic microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Edel
- Institute of Technical Microbiology, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Laura-Alina Philipp
- Institute of Technical Microbiology, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jonas Lapp
- Institute of Technical Microbiology, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Johannes Reiner
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Engler-Bunte-Institute, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Johannes Gescher
- Institute of Technical Microbiology, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany.
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8
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Kumar P, Sebők D, Kukovecz Á, Horváth D, Tóth Á. Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Metal-Ion-Modulated Chitosan Tubules. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:12690-12696. [PMID: 34672616 PMCID: PMC8567419 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c02097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Soft materials such as gels or biological tissues can develop via self-assembly under chemo-mechanical forces. Here, we report the instantaneous formation of soft tubular structures with a two-level hierarchy by injecting a mixture of inorganic salt and chitosan (CS) solution from below into a reactor filled with alkaline solution. Folding and wrinkling instabilities occur on the originally smooth surface controlled by the salt composition and concentration. Liesegang-like precipitation patterns develop on the outer surface on a μm length scale in the presence of calcium chloride, while the precipitate particles are distributed evenly in the bulk as corroborated by X-ray μ-CT. On the other hand, barium hydroxide precipitates out only in the thin outer layer of the CS tubule when barium chloride is introduced into the CS solution. Independent of the concentration of the weakly interacting salt, an electric potential gradient across the CS membrane develops, which vanishes when the pH difference between the two sides of the membrane diminishes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pawan Kumar
- Department
of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
| | - Dániel Sebők
- Department
of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
| | - Ákos Kukovecz
- Department
of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
| | - Dezső Horváth
- Department
of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
| | - Ágota Tóth
- Department
of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
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9
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Altair T, Borges LGF, Galante D, Varela H. Experimental Approaches for Testing the Hypothesis of the Emergence of Life at Submarine Alkaline Vents. Life (Basel) 2021; 11:777. [PMID: 34440521 PMCID: PMC8401828 DOI: 10.3390/life11080777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the pioneering experimental work performed by Urey and Miller around 70 years ago, several experimental works have been developed for approaching the question of the origin of life based on very few well-constructed hypotheses. In recent years, attention has been drawn to the so-called alkaline hydrothermal vents model (AHV model) for the emergence of life. Since the first works, perspectives from complexity sciences, bioenergetics and thermodynamics have been incorporated into the model. Consequently, a high number of experimental works from the model using several tools have been developed. In this review, we present the key concepts that provide a background for the AHV model and then analyze the experimental approaches that were motivated by it. Experimental tools based on hydrothermal reactors, microfluidics and chemical gardens were used for simulating the environments of early AHVs on the Hadean Earth (~4.0 Ga). In addition, it is noteworthy that several works used techniques from electrochemistry to investigate phenomena in the vent-ocean interface for early AHVs. Their results provided important parameters and details that are used for the evaluation of the plausibility of the AHV model, and for the enhancement of it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thiago Altair
- São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Carlos 13560-970, Brazil
| | - Luiz G. F. Borges
- Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas 13083-100, Brazil; (L.G.F.B.); (D.G.)
| | - Douglas Galante
- Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas 13083-100, Brazil; (L.G.F.B.); (D.G.)
| | - Hamilton Varela
- São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Carlos 13560-970, Brazil
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10
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Chin K, Pasalic J, Hermis N, Barge LM. Chemical Gardens as Electrochemical Systems: In Situ Characterization of Simulated Prebiotic Hydrothermal Vents by Impedance Spectroscopy. Chempluschem 2021; 85:2619-2628. [PMID: 33270995 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202000600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
In an early earth or planetary chimney systems, hydrothermal fluid chemistry and flow durations play a large role in the chimney's ability to drive electrochemical reactions for the origin of life. We performed continuous electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) characterization on inorganic membranes representing prebiotic hydrothermal chimney vents in natural seafloor systems, by incorporating an electrode array into a chimney growth experiment. Localized potential and capacitances profiles in the chimney reveal a dynamic system where redox processes are driven by transport phenomena, increasing rapidly due to disequilibrium until achieving equilibrium at about 100 mV and 1000 μF/cm2 . The impedance in the chimney interior is three orders of magnitude lower (100 Ohms/cm2 vs 100 KOhms/cm2 ) than at the ocean or the ocean/chimney interface. The calculated peak dissipation factor (DF) values are more than ten times higher (40.0 vs 3.0) and also confirm the elevated chemical reactivity in the chimney interior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith Chin
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
| | - Jasmina Pasalic
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
| | - Ninos Hermis
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
| | - Laura M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
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11
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Lee JE, Yamaguchi A, Ooka H, Kazami T, Miyauchi M, Kitadai N, Nakamura R. In situ FTIR study of CO 2 reduction on inorganic analogues of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase. Chem Commun (Camb) 2021; 57:3267-3270. [PMID: 33650585 DOI: 10.1039/d0cc07318k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The CO2-to-CO reduction by carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) with a [NiFe4S4] cluster is considered to be the oldest pathway of biological carbon fixation and therefore may have been involved in the origin of life. Although previous studies have investigated CO2 reduction by Fe and Ni sulfides to identify the prebiotic origin of the [NiFe4S4] cluster, the reaction mechanism remains largely elusive. Herein, we applied in situ electrochemical ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to probe the reaction intermediates of greigite (Fe3S4) and violarite (FeNi2S4). Intermediate species assignable to surface-bound CO2 and formyl groups were found to be stabilized in the presence of Ni, lending insight into its role in enhancing the multistep CO2 reduction process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji-Eun Lee
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
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12
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Kitadai N, Nakamura R, Yamamoto M, Okada S, Takahagi W, Nakano Y, Takahashi Y, Takai K, Oono Y. Thioester synthesis through geoelectrochemical CO 2 fixation on Ni sulfides. Commun Chem 2021; 4:37. [PMID: 36697522 PMCID: PMC9814748 DOI: 10.1038/s42004-021-00475-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
A 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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norio Kitadai
- grid.410588.00000 0001 2191 0132Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan ,grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguroku, Tokyo Japan
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguroku, Tokyo Japan ,grid.7597.c0000000094465255Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Wako, Saitama Japan
| | - Masahiro Yamamoto
- grid.410588.00000 0001 2191 0132Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
| | - Satoshi Okada
- grid.410588.00000 0001 2191 0132Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
| | - Wataru Takahagi
- grid.410588.00000 0001 2191 0132Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan ,grid.26999.3d0000 0001 2151 536XDepartment of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo Japan
| | - Yuko Nakano
- grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguroku, Tokyo Japan
| | - Yoshio Takahashi
- grid.26999.3d0000 0001 2151 536XDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- grid.410588.00000 0001 2191 0132Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
| | - Yoshi Oono
- grid.35403.310000 0004 1936 9991Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
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13
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Jones JP, Firdosy SA, Barge LM, Bescup JC, Perl SM, Zhang X, Pate AM, Price RE. 3D Printed Minerals as Astrobiology Analogs of Hydrothermal Vent Chimneys. ASTROBIOLOGY 2020; 20:1405-1412. [PMID: 32924535 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2020.2260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Hydrothermal vents, which are highly plausible habitable environments for life and of interest for some origin-of-life scenarios, may exist on icy moons such as Europa or Enceladus in addition to Earth. Some hydrothermal vent chimney structures are extremely porous and friable, making their reconstruction in the lab challenging (e.g., brucite or saponite in alkaline hydrothermal settings). Here, we present the results from our efforts to reconstruct a simplified chimney structure directly out of mineral powder using binder jet additive manufacturing. Olivine sand was chosen for this initial method development effort since it represents a naturally occurring seafloor material and is inexpensively available in large quantities in powder form. The crystal structure of olivine used for the print was not modified during the process, as confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). To characterize the microstructure of our 3D printed precipitates, we used computed tomography (CT) X-ray scan techniques. We also evaluated a chimney precipitate from a sample collected from the Prony Hydrothermal Field (PHF), southern New Caledonia, an alkaline system driven by serpentinization with mineralogy composed of brucite and carbonates. While not directly comparable from a mineralogical point of view, the microstructure and porosity of both precipitates was similar, suggesting that our 3D printing technique may be a valuable tool for future astrobiology research on hydrothermal vent precipitates.
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Affiliation(s)
- John-Paul Jones
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Samad A Firdosy
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Laura M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - John C Bescup
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Scott M Perl
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Xu Zhang
- College of Engineering Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Andre M Pate
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Roy E Price
- School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
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14
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Deng X, Saito J, Kaksonen A, Okamoto A. Enhancement of cell growth by uncoupling extracellular electron uptake and oxidative stress production in sediment sulfate-reducing bacteria. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2020; 144:106006. [PMID: 32795748 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Microbial extracellular electron uptake (EEU) from solid electron donors has critical implications for microbial energy acquisition in energy-limited environments as well as electrochemical microbial technologies. Although EEU supplies sufficient energy to support cellular growth, additional soluble electron donors are required for most microbes to grow on electrode surfaces. Here, we demonstrated that the minimization of exogenous and endogenous oxidative stress greatly enhanced the growth rate of the sediment EEU-capable sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio ferrophilus IS5 on an electrode without the addition of a soluble electron donor. Single-cell activity analysis by nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry showed that the metabolic activity of IS5 cells on the electrode was significantly enhanced following incubation in an H-type reactor, which was configured to reduce the exposure of cells to the potential oxidative stress source of the Pt counter electrode (CE). Additionally, the highest metabolic activity was observed at an electrode potential of -0.4 V (versus the standard hydrogen electrode), where electron uptake rate was not at peak. Compared to a single-chamber reactor, incubation in an H-type reactor at -0.4 V shortened the cell doubling time by 50-fold, which resulted in sufficient anabolism for cell replication (15N/Ntotal > 50%). The production of strongly oxidizing species at the CE was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses. Transcriptome analysis revealed overexpression of antioxidative genes in cells incubated at a potential with higher current production. These results suggested that higher levels of endogenous oxidative species were produced by a more reduced electron-transport chain from trace amounts of oxygen in the reactor, thereby lowering cell activity. In conclusion, EEU may enable sediment microbes to undergo enhanced cell growth and to find niches on minerals under anaerobic energy-limited conditions, where oxidative stress is much less likely to be present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Deng
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan; Center for Sensor and Actuator Material, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan; School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku 113-8656, Japan; CSIRO Land and Water, 147 Underwood Avenue, Floreat, WA 6014, Australia
| | - Junki Saito
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan; School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku 113-8656, Japan
| | - Anna Kaksonen
- CSIRO Land and Water, 147 Underwood Avenue, Floreat, WA 6014, Australia; School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Akihiro Okamoto
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan; Center for Sensor and Actuator Material, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan; Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan.
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15
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Abstract
All life on Earth is built of organic molecules, so the primordial sources of reduced carbon remain a major open question in studies of the origin of life. A variant of the alkaline-hydrothermal-vent theory for life's emergence suggests that organics could have been produced by the reduction of CO2 via H2 oxidation, facilitated by geologically sustained pH gradients. The process would be an abiotic analog-and proposed evolutionary predecessor-of the Wood-Ljungdahl acetyl-CoA pathway of modern archaea and bacteria. The first energetic bottleneck of the pathway involves the endergonic reduction of CO2 with H2 to formate (HCOO-), which has proven elusive in mild abiotic settings. Here we show the reduction of CO2 with H2 at room temperature under moderate pressures (1.5 bar), driven by microfluidic pH gradients across inorganic Fe(Ni)S precipitates. Isotopic labeling with 13C confirmed formate production. Separately, deuterium (2H) labeling indicated that electron transfer to CO2 does not occur via direct hydrogenation with H2 but instead, freshly deposited Fe(Ni)S precipitates appear to facilitate electron transfer in an electrochemical-cell mechanism with two distinct half-reactions. Decreasing the pH gradient significantly, removing H2, or eliminating the precipitate yielded no detectable product. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of spatially separated yet electrically coupled geochemical reactions as drivers of otherwise endergonic processes. Beyond corroborating the ability of early-Earth alkaline hydrothermal systems to couple carbon reduction to hydrogen oxidation through biologically relevant mechanisms, these results may also be of significance for industrial and environmental applications, where other redox reactions could be facilitated using similarly mild approaches.
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16
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Centimeter-Long Microbial Electron Transport for Bioremediation Applications. Trends Biotechnol 2020; 39:181-193. [PMID: 32680591 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Microbial bioremediation based on nano- to micrometer-scale electron transport has been intensively studied during the past decade, but its application can be hindered by a deficiency of suitable electron acceptors or slow mass transportation at contaminated sites. Microbial long-distance electron transport (LDET), which can couple spatially separated redox reactions across distances in natural environments, has recently emerged at centimeter-length scales. LDET explains a range of globally important biogeochemical phenomena and overcomes the drawbacks of conventional bioremediation by directly linking distant electron donors and acceptors. Here, we highlight recent research outcomes in examining, characterizing, and engineering LDET, and describe how LDET can be exploited to develop advanced technologies for the bioremediation of soils and sediments.
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17
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Yee MO, Deutzmann J, Spormann A, Rotaru AE. Cultivating electroactive microbes-from field to bench. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2020; 31:174003. [PMID: 31931483 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab6ab5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Electromicrobiology is an emerging field investigating and exploiting the interaction of microorganisms with insoluble electron donors or acceptors. Some of the most recently categorized electroactive microorganisms became of interest to sustainable bioengineering practices. However, laboratories worldwide typically maintain electroactive microorganisms on soluble substrates, which often leads to a decrease or loss of the ability to effectively exchange electrons with solid electrode surfaces. In order to develop future sustainable technologies, we cannot rely solely on existing lab-isolates. Therefore, we must develop isolation strategies for environmental strains with electroactive properties superior to strains in culture collections. In this article, we provide an overview of the studies that isolated or enriched electroactive microorganisms from the environment using an anode as the sole electron acceptor (electricity-generating microorganisms) or a cathode as the sole electron donor (electricity-consuming microorganisms). Next, we recommend a selective strategy for the isolation of electroactive microorganisms. Furthermore, we provide a practical guide for setting up electrochemical reactors and highlight crucial electrochemical techniques to determine electroactivity and the mode of electron transfer in novel organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mon Oo Yee
- Nordcee, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DK-5230, Denmark
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18
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Pillot G, Davidson S, Auria R, Combet-Blanc Y, Godfroy A, Liebgott PP. Production of Current by Syntrophy Between Exoelectrogenic and Fermentative Hyperthermophilic Microorganisms in Heterotrophic Biofilm from a Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Chimney. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2020; 79:38-49. [PMID: 31079197 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-019-01381-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
To study the role of exoelectrogens within the trophic network of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, we performed successive subcultures of a hyperthermophilic community from a hydrothermal chimney sample on a mix of electron donors in a microbial fuel cell system. Electrode (the electron acceptor) was swapped every week to enable fresh development from spent media as inoculum. The MFC at 80 °C yielded maximum current production increasing from 159 to 247 mA m-2 over the subcultures. The experiments demonstrated direct production of electric current from acetate, pyruvate, and H2 and indirect production from yeast extract and peptone through the production of H2 and acetate from fermentation. The microorganisms found in on-electrode communities were mainly affiliated to exoelectrogenic Archaeoglobales and Thermococcales species, whereas in liquid media, the communities were mainly affiliated to fermentative Bacillales and Thermococcales species. The work shows interactions between fermentative microorganisms degrading complex organic matter into fermentation products that are then used by exoelectrogenic microorganisms oxidizing these reduced compounds while respiring on a conductive support. The results confirmed that with carbon cycling, the syntrophic relations between fermentative microorganisms and exoelectrogens could enable some microbes to survive as biofilm in extremely unstable conditions. Graphical Abstract Schematic representation of cross-feeding between fermentative and exoelectrogenic microbes on the surface of the conductive support. B, Bacillus/Geobacillus spp.; Tc, Thermococcales; Gg, Geoglobus spp.; Py, pyruvate; Ac, acetate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Pillot
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM110, Marseille, France
- Université du Sud Toulon-Var, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM 110, La Garde, France
| | - Sylvain Davidson
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM110, Marseille, France
- Université du Sud Toulon-Var, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM 110, La Garde, France
| | - Richard Auria
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM110, Marseille, France
- Université du Sud Toulon-Var, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM 110, La Garde, France
| | - Yannick Combet-Blanc
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM110, Marseille, France
- Université du Sud Toulon-Var, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM 110, La Garde, France
| | - Anne Godfroy
- IFREMER, CNRS, Laboratoire de Microbiologie des Environnements Extrêmes - UMR6197, Ifremer, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Centre de Brest, CS10070, Plouzané, France
| | - Pierre-Pol Liebgott
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM110, Marseille, France.
- Université du Sud Toulon-Var, IRD, CNRS, MIO, UM 110, La Garde, France.
- Campus de Luminy, Bâtiment OCEANOMED, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography, 13288, Marseille Cedex 09, France.
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19
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Vasiliadou R, Dimov N, Szita N, Jordan SF, Lane N. Possible mechanisms of CO 2 reduction by H 2 via prebiotic vectorial electrochemistry. Interface Focus 2019; 9:20190073. [PMID: 31641439 PMCID: PMC6802132 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Methanogens are putatively ancestral autotrophs that reduce CO2 with H2 to form biomass using a membrane-bound, proton-motive Fe(Ni)S protein called the energy-converting hydrogenase (Ech). At the origin of life, geologically sustained H+ gradients across inorganic barriers containing Fe(Ni)S minerals could theoretically have driven CO2 reduction by H2 through vectorial chemistry in a similar way to Ech. pH modulation of the redox potentials of H2, CO2 and Fe(Ni)S minerals could in principle enable an otherwise endergonic reaction. Here, we analyse whether vectorial electrochemistry can facilitate the reduction of CO2 by H2 under alkaline hydrothermal conditions using a microfluidic reactor. We present pilot data showing that steep pH gradients of approximately 5 pH units can be sustained over greater than 5 h across Fe(Ni)S barriers, with H+-flux across the barrier about two million-fold faster than OH--flux. This high flux produces a calculated 3-pH unit-gradient (equating to 180 mV) across single approximately 25-nm Fe(Ni)S nanocrystals, which is close to that required to reduce CO2. However, the poor solubility of H2 at atmospheric pressure limits CO2 reduction by H2, explaining why organic synthesis has so far proved elusive in our reactor. Higher H2 concentration will be needed in future to facilitate CO2 reduction through prebiotic vectorial electrochemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafaela Vasiliadou
- Centre for Life's Origin and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nikolay Dimov
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
| | - Nicolas Szita
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Bernard Katz Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Sean F. Jordan
- Centre for Life's Origin and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nick Lane
- Centre for Life's Origin and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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20
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Kitadai N, Nakamura R, Yamamoto M, Takai K, Yoshida N, Oono Y. Metals likely promoted protometabolism in early ocean alkaline hydrothermal systems. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaav7848. [PMID: 31223650 PMCID: PMC6584212 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav7848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
One of the most plausible scenarios of the origin of life assumes the preceding prebiotic autotrophic metabolism in sulfide-rich hydrothermal vent environments. However, geochemical mechanisms to harness the reductive power provided by hydrothermal systems remain to be elucidated. Here, we show that, under a geoelectrochemical condition realizable in the early ocean hydrothermal systems, several metal sulfides (FeS, Ag2S, CuS, and PbS) undergo hour- to day-scale conversion to the corresponding metals at ≤-0.7 V (versus the standard hydrogen electrode). The electrochemically produced FeS-Fe0 assemblage promoted various reactions including certain steps in the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle with efficiencies far superior to those due to pure FeS. The threshold potential is readily generated in the H2-rich alkaline hydrothermal systems that were probably ubiquitous on the Hadean seafloor. Thus, widespread metal production and metal-sustained primordial metabolism were likely to occur as a natural consequence of the active hydrothermal processes on the Hadean Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norio Kitadai
- Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Masahiro Yamamoto
- Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Naohiro Yoshida
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanazawa 226-8503, Japan
| | - Yoshi Oono
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801-3080, USA
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21
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Vance SD, Barge LM, Cardoso SSS, Cartwright JHE. Self-Assembling Ice Membranes on Europa: Brinicle Properties, Field Examples, and Possible Energetic Systems in Icy Ocean Worlds. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:685-695. [PMID: 30964322 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Brinicles are self-assembling tubular ice membrane structures, centimeters to meters in length, found beneath sea ice in the polar regions of Earth. We discuss how the properties of brinicles make them of possible importance for chemistry in cold environments-including that of life's emergence-and we consider their formation in icy ocean worlds. We argue that the non-ice composition of the ice on Europa and Enceladus will vary spatially due to thermodynamic and mechanical properties that serve to separate and fractionate brines and solid materials. The specifics of the composition and dynamics of both the ice and the ocean in these worlds remain poorly constrained. We demonstrate through calculations using FREZCHEM that sulfate likely fractionates out of accreting ice in Europa and Enceladus, and thus that an exogenous origin of sulfate observed on Europa's surface need not preclude additional endogenous sulfate in Europa's ocean. We suggest that, like hydrothermal vents on Earth, brinicles in icy ocean worlds constitute ideal places where ecosystems of organisms might be found.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven D Vance
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Laura M Barge
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Silvana S S Cardoso
- 2 Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Julyan H E Cartwright
- 3 Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- 4 Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
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22
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Ooka H, McGlynn SE, Nakamura R. Electrochemistry at Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Vents: Utilization of the Thermodynamic Driving Force towards the Autotrophic Origin of Life. ChemElectroChem 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/celc.201801432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hideshi Ooka
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research TeamRIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako Saitama 351-0198 Japan
| | - Shawn E. McGlynn
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research TeamRIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako Saitama 351-0198 Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1-1E-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8550 Japan
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Seattle, WA USA
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research TeamRIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako Saitama 351-0198 Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1-1E-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8550 Japan
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23
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He R, Hu B, Zhong H, Jin F, Fan J, Hu YH, Jing Z. Reduction of CO 2 with H 2S in a simulated deep-sea hydrothermal vent system. Chem Commun (Camb) 2019; 55:1056-1059. [PMID: 30617362 DOI: 10.1039/c8cc08075e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
H2S is considered to be an important reductant in abiotic CO2 reduction to organics, however, almost no experimental support has been reported. Herein, the first observation of CO2 reduction to formate with H2S under alkaline hydrothermal conditions is reported, and water is found to act as a hydrogen donor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Runtian He
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
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24
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Zhang X, Zhang D, Huang Y, Zhang K, Lu P. Simultaneous removal of organic matter and iron from hydraulic fracturing flowback water through sulfur cycling in a microbial fuel cell. WATER RESEARCH 2018; 147:461-471. [PMID: 30343202 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2018] [Revised: 09/17/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The high volume of flowback water (FW) generated during shale gas exploitation is highly saline, and contains complex organics, iron, heavy metals, and sulfate, thereby posing a significant challenge for the environmental management of the unconventional natural gas industry. Herein, the treatment of FW in a sulfur-cycle-mediated microbial fuel cell (MFC) is reported. Simultaneous removal efficiency for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total iron from a synthetic FW was achieved, at 72 ± 7% and 90.6 ± 8.7%, respectively, with power generation of 2667 ± 529 mW/m3 in a closed-circuit MFC (CC-MFC). However, much lower iron removal (38.5 ± 4.5%) occurred in the open-circuit MFC (OC-MFC), where the generated FeS fine did not precipitate because of sulfide supersaturation. Enrichment of both sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB), namely Helicobacteraceae in the anolyte and the electricity-producing bacteria, namely Desulfuromonadales on the anode likely accelerated the sulfur cycle through the biological and bioelectrochemical oxidation of sulfide in the anodic chamber, and effectively increased the molar ratio of total iron to sulfide, thus alleviating sulfide supersaturation in the closed circuitry. Enrichment of SOB in the anolyte might be attributed to the formation of FeS electricity wire and likely contributed to the stable high power generation. Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi enriched in the anodic chamber were responsible for degrading complex organics in the FW. The treatment of real FW in the sulfur-cycle-mediated MFC also achieved high efficiency. This research provides a promising approach for the treatment of wastewater containing organic matters, heavy metals, and sulfate by using a sulfur-cycle-mediated MFC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoting Zhang
- Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Daijun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China; Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China.
| | - Yongkui Huang
- Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Kai Zhang
- Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Peili Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China; Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
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25
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Deng X, Okamoto A. Electrode Potential Dependency of Single-Cell Activity Identifies the Energetics of Slow Microbial Electron Uptake Process. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:2744. [PMID: 30483241 PMCID: PMC6243204 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Electrochemical measurements have been widely applied to study microbial extracellular electron transport processes. However, because electrochemistry detects not only microbial electron transport but also other reactions, background signals comparable to or larger than microbial ones hamper the identification of microbial electrochemical properties. This problem is crucial especially for the detection of electron uptake processes by slow-growing microbes in low-energy subsurface sediments, as the environmental samples contain electrochemically active humus and mineral particles. In this study, we report a cell-specific stable isotope analysis to quantify the electrode potential dependency of anabolic activity in individual cells for identifying the electron uptake energetics of slow-growing bacteria. Followed by the incubation of Desulfovibrio ferrophilus IS5 cells with isotopic 15N-ammonium as the sole N source on electrodes poised at potentials of -0.2, -0.3, -0.4, and -0.5 V [vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE)], we conducted nanoscale secondary ion mass spectroscopy (NanoSIMS) to quantify 15N assimilation in more than 100 individual cells on the electrodes. We observed significant 15N assimilation at potentials of -0.4 and more 15N assimilation at -0.5 V, which is consistent with the onset potential for electron uptake via outer-membrane cytochromes (OMCs). The activation of cell energy metabolism was further examined by transcriptome analysis. Our results showed a novel methodology to study microbial electron uptake energetics. The results also serve as the first direct evidence that energy acquisition is coupled to the electron uptake process in sulfate-reducing bacteria that are ubiquitous in the subsurface environments, with implications on the electron-fueled subsurface biosphere hypothesis and other microbial processes, such as anaerobic iron corrosion and anaerobic methane oxidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Deng
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Akihiro Okamoto
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan.,Center for Functional Sensor and Actuator, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
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26
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Wakai S. Biochemical and thermodynamic analyses of energy conversion in extremophiles. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2018; 83:49-64. [PMID: 30381012 DOI: 10.1080/09168451.2018.1538769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
A variety of extreme environments, characterized by extreme values of various physicochemical parameters (temperature, pressure, salinity, pH, and so on), are found on Earth. Organisms that favorably live in such extreme environments are called extremophiles. All living organisms, including extremophiles, must acquire energy to maintain cellular homeostasis, including extremophiles. For energy conversion in harsh environments, thermodynamically useful reactions and stable biomolecules are essential. In this review, I briefly summarize recent studies of extreme environments and extremophiles living in these environments and describe energy conversion processes in various extremophiles based on my previous research. Furthermore, I discuss the correlation between the biological system of electrotrophy, a third biological energy acquisition system, and the mechanism underlying microbiologically influenced corrosion. These insights into energy conversion in extremophiles may improve our understanding of the "limits of life". Abbreviations: PPi: pyrophosphate; PPase: pyrophosphatase; ITC: isothermal titration microcalorimetry; SVNTase: Shewanella violacea 5'-nucleotidase; SANTase: Shewanella amazonensis 5'-nucleotidase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoshi Wakai
- a Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation , Kobe University , Kobe , Japan
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27
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Murugan M, Miran W, Masuda T, Lee DS, Okamoto A. Biosynthesized Iron Sulfide Nanocluster Enhanced Anodic Current Generation by Sulfate Reducing Bacteria in Microbial Fuel Cells. ChemElectroChem 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/celc.201801086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Muralidharan Murugan
- Global Research Center for Environment and Energy based on Nanomaterials Science (GREEN)National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
- Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and EngineeringHokkaido University Sapporo 060-8628 Japan
| | - Waheed Miran
- Department of Environmental EngineeringKyungpook National University 80 Daehak-ro, Buk-gu Daegu 41566 Republic of Korea
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA)National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Namiki, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
| | - Takuya Masuda
- Global Research Center for Environment and Energy based on Nanomaterials Science (GREEN)National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
| | - Dae S. Lee
- Department of Environmental EngineeringKyungpook National University 80 Daehak-ro, Buk-gu Daegu 41566 Republic of Korea
| | - Akihiro Okamoto
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA)National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Namiki, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
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28
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Li Y, Kitadai N, Nakamura R. Chemical Diversity of Metal Sulfide Minerals and Its Implications for the Origin of Life. Life (Basel) 2018; 8:life8040046. [PMID: 30308967 PMCID: PMC6316247 DOI: 10.3390/life8040046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2018] [Revised: 09/29/2018] [Accepted: 10/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Prebiotic organic synthesis catalyzed by Earth-abundant metal sulfides is a key process for understanding the evolution of biochemistry from inorganic molecules, yet the catalytic functions of sulfides have remained poorly explored in the context of the origin of life. Past studies on prebiotic chemistry have mostly focused on a few types of metal sulfide catalysts, such as FeS or NiS, which form limited types of products with inferior activity and selectivity. To explore the potential of metal sulfides on catalyzing prebiotic chemical reactions, here, the chemical diversity (variations in chemical composition and phase structure) of 304 natural metal sulfide minerals in a mineralogy database was surveyed. Approaches to rationally predict the catalytic functions of metal sulfides are discussed based on advanced theories and analytical tools of electrocatalysis such as proton-coupled electron transfer, structural comparisons between enzymes and minerals, and in situ spectroscopy. To this end, we introduce a model of geoelectrochemistry driven prebiotic synthesis for chemical evolution, as it helps us to predict kinetics and selectivity of targeted prebiotic chemistry under “chemically messy conditions”. We expect that combining the data-mining of mineral databases with experimental methods, theories, and machine-learning approaches developed in the field of electrocatalysis will facilitate the prediction and verification of catalytic performance under a wide range of pH and Eh conditions, and will aid in the rational screening of mineral catalysts involved in the origin of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamei Li
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
| | - Norio Kitadai
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
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29
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Nakashima S, Kebukawa Y, Kitadai N, Igisu M, Matsuoka N. Geochemistry and the Origin of Life: From Extraterrestrial Processes, Chemical Evolution on Earth, Fossilized Life's Records, to Natures of the Extant Life. Life (Basel) 2018; 8:E39. [PMID: 30241342 PMCID: PMC6315873 DOI: 10.3390/life8040039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2018] [Revised: 09/15/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In 2001, the first author (S.N.) led the publication of a book entitled "Geochemistry and the origin of life" in collaboration with Dr. Andre Brack aiming to figure out geo- and astro-chemical processes essential for the emergence of life. Since then, a great number of research progress has been achieved in the relevant topics from our group and others, ranging from the extraterrestrial inputs of life's building blocks, the chemical evolution on Earth with the aid of mineral catalysts, to the fossilized records of ancient microorganisms. Here, in addition to summarizing these findings for the origin and early evolution of life, we propose a new hypothesis for the generation and co-evolution of photosynthesis with the redox and photochemical conditions on the Earth's surface. Besides these bottom-up approaches, we introduce an experimental study on the role of water molecules in the life's function, focusing on the transition from live, dormant, and dead states through dehydration/hydration. Further spectroscopic studies on the hydrogen bonding behaviors of water molecules in living cells will provide important clues to solve the complex nature of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoru Nakashima
- Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan.
- Undergraduate School of Physics, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan.
| | - Yoko Kebukawa
- Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan.
- Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
| | - Norio Kitadai
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1, Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
| | - Motoko Igisu
- Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan.
| | - Natsuki Matsuoka
- Undergraduate School of Physics, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan.
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30
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Barge LM, Krause FC, Jones JP, Billings K, Sobron P. Geoelectrodes and Fuel Cells for Simulating Hydrothermal Vent Environments. ASTROBIOLOGY 2018; 18:1147-1158. [PMID: 30106308 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Gradients generated in hydrothermal systems provide a significant source of free energy for chemosynthetic life and may play a role in present-day habitability on ocean worlds. Electron/proton/ion gradients, particularly in the context of hydrothermal chimney structures, may also be relevant to the origins of life on Earth. Hydrothermal vents are similar in some ways to typical fuel cell devices: redox/pH gradients between seawater and hydrothermal fluid are analogous to the fuel cell oxidant and fuel reservoirs; the porous chimney wall is analogous to a separator or ion-exchange membrane and is also a conductive path for electrons; and the hydrothermal minerals are analogous to electrode catalysts. The modular and scalable characteristics of fuel cell systems make for a convenient planetary geology test bed in which geologically relevant components may be assembled and investigated in a controlled simulation environment. We have performed fuel cell experiments and electrochemical studies to better understand the catalytic potential of seafloor minerals and vent chimneys, using samples from a black smoker vent chimney as an initial demonstration. In a fuel cell with Na+-conducting Nafion® membranes and liquid fuel/oxidant reservoirs (simulating the vent environment), the black smoker mineral catalyst in the membrane electrode assembly was effective in reducing O2 and oxidizing sulfide. In a H2/O2 polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell with H+-conducting Nafion membranes, the black smoker catalyst was effective in reducing O2 but not in oxidizing H2. These fuel cell experiments accurately simulated the redox reactions that could occur in a geological setting with this particular catalyst, and also tested whether the minerals are sufficiently active to replace a commercial fuel cell catalyst. Similar experiments with other geocatalysts could be utilized to test which redox reactions could be driven in other hydrothermal systems, including hypothesized vent systems on other worlds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Barge
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Frederick C Krause
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - John-Paul Jones
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Keith Billings
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Pablo Sobron
- 2 Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute , Mountain View, California
- 3 Impossible Sensing , St. Louis, Missouri
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31
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Russell MJ. Green Rust: The Simple Organizing 'Seed' of All Life? Life (Basel) 2018; 8:E35. [PMID: 30150570 PMCID: PMC6161180 DOI: 10.3390/life8030035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Russell
- Planetary Chemistry and Astrobiology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA.
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32
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Kato S, Igarashi K. Enhancement of methanogenesis by electric syntrophy with biogenic iron-sulfide minerals. Microbiologyopen 2018; 8:e00647. [PMID: 29877051 PMCID: PMC6436484 DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 02/13/2018] [Accepted: 04/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that interspecies electron transfer between chemoheterotrophic bacteria and methanogenic archaea can be mediated by electric currents flowing through conductive iron oxides, a process termed electric syntrophy. In this study, we conducted enrichment experiments with methanogenic microbial communities from rice paddy soil in the presence of ferrihydrite and/or sulfate to determine whether electric syntrophy could be enabled by biogenic iron sulfides. Although supplementation with either ferrihydrite or sulfate alone suppressed methanogenesis, supplementation with both ferrihydrite and sulfate enhanced methanogenesis. In the presence of sulfate, ferrihydrite was transformed into black precipitates consisting mainly of poorly crystalline iron sulfides. Microbial community analysis revealed that a methanogenic archaeon and iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria (Methanosarcina, Geobacter, and Desulfotomaculum, respectively) predominated in the enrichment culture supplemented with both ferrihydrite and sulfate. Addition of an inhibitor specific for methanogenic archaea decreased the abundance of Geobacter, but not Desulfotomaculum, indicating that Geobacter acquired energy via syntrophic interaction with methanogenic archaea. Although electron acceptor compounds such as sulfate and iron oxides have been thought to suppress methanogenesis, this study revealed that coexistence of sulfate and iron oxide can promote methanogenesis by biomineralization of (semi)conductive iron sulfides that enable methanogenesis via electric syntrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Souichiro Kato
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Sapporo, Japan.,Division of Applied Bioscience, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Kensuke Igarashi
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Sapporo, Japan
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33
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Yamamoto M, Nakamura R, Takai K. Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Fields as Natural Power Plants. ChemElectroChem 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/celc.201800394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Yamamoto
- Department of Subsurface Geobiology Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR); Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC); Yokosuka 273-0061 Japan
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team; RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science; 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako Saitama 351-0198 Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute; Tokyo Institute of Technology; 2-12-1-IE-1, Ookayama, Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8550 Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- Department of Subsurface Geobiology Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR); Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC); Yokosuka 273-0061 Japan
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34
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Kitadai N, Nakamura R, Yamamoto M, Takai K, Li Y, Yamaguchi A, Gilbert A, Ueno Y, Yoshida N, Oono Y. Geoelectrochemical CO production: Implications for the autotrophic origin of life. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaao7265. [PMID: 29632890 PMCID: PMC5884689 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao7265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2017] [Accepted: 02/16/2018] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Wächtershäuser's proposal of the autotrophic origin of life theory and subsequent laboratory demonstrations of relevant organic reactions have opened a new gate for the exploration of the origin of life. However, this scenario remains controversial because, at present, it requires a high pressure of CO as a source of carbon and reducing energy, although CO must have been a trace C species on the Hadean Earth. We show that, simulating a geoelectrochemical environment in deep-sea hydrothermal fields, CO production with up to ~40% Faraday efficiency was attainable on CdS in CO2-saturated NaCl solution at ≤-1 V (versus the standard hydrogen electrode). The threshold potential is readily generated in the H2-rich, high-temperature, and alkaline hydrothermal vents that were probably widespread on the early komatiitic and basaltic ocean crust. Thus, Wächtershäuser's scenario starting from CO2 was likely to be realized in the Hadean ocean hydrothermal systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norio Kitadai
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Corresponding author.
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Masahiro Yamamoto
- Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
| | - Yamei Li
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Akira Yamaguchi
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, S7-9, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
| | - Alexis Gilbert
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Yuichiro Ueno
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Naohiro Yoshida
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanazawa 226-8503, Japan
| | - Yoshi Oono
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801–3080, USA
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35
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Kawaichi S, Yamada T, Umezawa A, McGlynn SE, Suzuki T, Dohmae N, Yoshida T, Sako Y, Matsushita N, Hashimoto K, Nakamura R. Anodic and Cathodic Extracellular Electron Transfer by the Filamentous Bacterium Ardenticatena maritima 110S. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:68. [PMID: 29467724 PMCID: PMC5808234 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ardenticatena maritima strain 110S is a filamentous bacterium isolated from an iron-rich coastal hydrothermal field, and it is a unique isolate capable of dissimilatory iron or nitrate reduction among the members of the bacterial phylum Chloroflexi. Here, we report the ability of A. maritima strain 110S to utilize electrodes as a sole electron acceptor and donor when coupled with the oxidation of organic compounds and nitrate reduction, respectively. In addition, multicellular filaments with hundreds of cells arranged end-to-end increased the extracellular electron transfer (EET) ability to electrodes by organizing filaments into bundled structures, with the aid of microbially reduced iron oxide minerals on the cell surface of strain 110S. Based on these findings, together with the attempt to detect surface-localized cytochromes in the genome sequence and the demonstration of redox-dependent staining and immunostaining of the cell surface, we propose a model of bidirectional electron transport by A. maritima strain 110S, in which surface-localized multiheme cytochromes and surface-associated iron minerals serve as a conduit of bidirectional EET in multicellular filaments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoshi Kawaichi
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Saitama, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Yamada
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Saitama, Japan.,Department of Electronic Chemistry, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akio Umezawa
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Saitama, Japan
| | - Shawn E McGlynn
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Saitama, Japan.,Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takehiro Suzuki
- Biomolecular Characterization Unit, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Wako, Japan
| | - Naoshi Dohmae
- Biomolecular Characterization Unit, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Wako, Japan
| | - Takashi Yoshida
- Laboratory of Marine Microbiology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yoshihiko Sako
- Laboratory of Marine Microbiology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Nobuhiro Matsushita
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Saitama, Japan.,Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
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36
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Abstract
The reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle is among the most plausible candidates for the first autotrophic metabolism in the earliest life. Extant enzymes fixing CO2 in this cycle contain cofactors at the catalytic centers, but it is unlikely that the protein/cofactor system emerged at once in a prebiotic process. Here, we discuss the feasibility of non-enzymatic cofactor-assisted drive of the rTCA reactions in the primitive Earth environments, particularly focusing on the acetyl-CoA conversion to pyruvate. Based on the energetic and mechanistic aspects of this reaction, we propose that the deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments with active electricity generation in the presence of various sulfide catalysts are a promising setting for it to progress. Our view supports the theory of an autotrophic origin of life from primordial carbon assimilation within a sulfide-rich hydrothermal vent.
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37
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Muchowska KB, Varma SJ, Chevallot-Beroux E, Lethuillier-Karl L, Li G, Moran J. Metals promote sequences of the reverse Krebs cycle. Nat Ecol Evol 2017; 1:1716-1721. [PMID: 28970480 PMCID: PMC5659384 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0311-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2017] [Accepted: 08/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The rTCA cycle (also known as the reverse Krebs cycle) is a central anabolic biochemical pathway whose origins are proposed to trace back to geochemistry, long before the advent of enzymes, RNA or cells, and whose imprint still remains intimately embedded in the structure of core metabolism. If it existed, a primordial version of the rTCA cycle would necessarily have been catalyzed by naturally occurring minerals at the earliest stage of the transition from geochemistry to biochemistry. Here we report non-enzymatic promotion of multiple reactions of the rTCA cycle in consecutive sequence, whereby 6 of its 11 reactions are promoted by Zn2+, Cr3+ and Fe0 in an acidic aqueous solution. Two distinct three-reaction sequences can be achieved under a common set of conditions. Selectivity is observed for reduction reactions producing rTCA cycle intermediates compared to those leading off-cycle. Reductive amination of ketoacids to furnish amino acids is observed under similar conditions. The emerging reaction network supports the feasibility of primitive anabolism in an acidic, metal-rich reducing environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamila B Muchowska
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), F-67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Sreejith J Varma
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), F-67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Elodie Chevallot-Beroux
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), F-67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Lucas Lethuillier-Karl
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), F-67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Guang Li
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), F-67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Joseph Moran
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), F-67000, Strasbourg, France.
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Barge LM, White LM. Experimentally Testing Hydrothermal Vent Origin of Life on Enceladus and Other Icy/Ocean Worlds. ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 17:820-833. [PMID: 28836818 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2016.1633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
We review various laboratory strategies and methods that can be utilized to simulate prebiotic processes and origin of life in hydrothermal vent systems on icy/ocean worlds. Crucial steps that could be simulated in the laboratory include simulations of water-rock chemistry (e.g., serpentinization) to produce hydrothermal fluids, the types of mineral catalysts and energy gradients produced in vent interfaces where hydrothermal fluids interface with the surrounding seawater, and simulations of biologically relevant chemistry in flow-through gradient systems (i.e., far-from-equilibrium experiments). We describe some examples of experimental designs in detail, which are adaptable and could be used to test particular hypotheses about ocean world energetics or mineral/organic chemistry. Enceladus among the ocean worlds provides an ideal test case, since the pressure at the ocean floor is more easily simulated in the lab. Results for Enceladus could be extrapolated with further experiments and modeling to understand other ocean worlds. Key Words: Enceladus-Ocean worlds-Icy worlds-Hydrothermal vent-Iron sulfide-Gradient. Astrobiology 17, 820-833.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Lauren M White
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
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39
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Taran O. Electron Transfer between Electrically Conductive Minerals and Quinones. Front Chem 2017; 5:49. [PMID: 28752088 PMCID: PMC5508016 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2017.00049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2016] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Long-distance electron transfer in marine environments couples physically separated redox half-reactions, impacting biogeochemical cycles of iron, sulfur and carbon. Bacterial bio-electrochemical systems that facilitate electron transfer via conductive filaments or across man-made electrodes are well-known, but the impact of abiotic currents across naturally occurring conductive and semiconductive minerals is poorly understood. In this paper I use cyclic voltammetry to explore electron transfer between electrodes made of common iron minerals (magnetite, hematite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, mackinawite, and greigite), and hydroquinones—a class of organic molecules found in carbon-rich sediments. Of all tested minerals, only pyrite and magnetite showed an increase in electric current in the presence of organic molecules, with pyrite showing excellent electrocatalytic performance. Pyrite electrodes performed better than commercially available glassy carbon electrodes and showed higher peak currents, lower overpotential values and a smaller separation between oxidation and reduction peaks for each tested quinone. Hydroquinone oxidation on pyrite surfaces was reversible, diffusion controlled, and stable over a large number of potential cycles. Given the ubiquity of both pyrite and quinones, abiotic electron transfer between minerals and organic molecules is likely widespread in Nature and may contribute to several different phenomena, including anaerobic respiration of a wide variety of microorganisms in temporally anoxic zones or in the proximity of hydrothermal vent chimneys, as well as quinone cycling and the propagation of anoxic zones in organic rich waters. Finally, interactions between pyrite and quinones make use of electrochemical gradients that have been suggested as an important source of energy for the origins of life on Earth. Ubiquinones and iron sulfide clusters are common redox cofactors found in electron transport chains across all domains of life and interactions between quinones and pyrite might have been an early analog of these ubiquitous systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Taran
- Department of Chemistry, Emory UniversityAtlanta, GA, United States
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Abstract
Chemiosmotic coupling - the harnessing of electrochemical ion gradients across membranes to drive metabolism - is as universally conserved as the genetic code. As argued previously in these pages, such deep conservation suggests that ion gradients arose early in evolution, and might have played a role in the origin of life. Alkaline hydrothermal vents harbour pH gradients of similar polarity and magnitude to those employed by modern cells, one of many properties that make them attractive models for life's origin. Their congruence with the physiology of anaerobic autotrophs that use the acetyl CoA pathway to fix CO2 gives the alkaline vent model broad appeal to biologists. Recently, however, a paper by Baz Jackson criticized the hypothesis, concluding that natural pH gradients were unlikely to have played any role in the origin of life. Unfortunately, Jackson mainly criticized his own interpretations of the theory, not what the literature says. This counterpoint is intended to set the record straight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick Lane
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
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41
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Camprubi E, Jordan SF, Vasiliadou R, Lane N. Iron catalysis at the origin of life. IUBMB Life 2017; 69:373-381. [PMID: 28470848 DOI: 10.1002/iub.1632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2017] [Accepted: 03/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Iron-sulphur proteins are ancient and drive fundamental processes in cells, notably electron transfer and CO2 fixation. Iron-sulphur minerals with equivalent structures could have played a key role in the origin of life. However, the 'iron-sulphur world' hypothesis has had a mixed reception, with questions raised especially about the feasibility of a pyrites-pulled reverse Krebs cycle. Phylogenetics suggests that the earliest cells drove carbon and energy metabolism via the acetyl CoA pathway, which is also replete in Fe(Ni)S proteins. Deep differences between bacteria and archaea in this pathway obscure the ancestral state. These differences make sense if early cells depended on natural proton gradients in alkaline hydrothermal vents. If so, the acetyl CoA pathway diverged with the origins of active ion pumping, and ancestral CO2 fixation might have been equivalent to methanogens, which depend on a membrane-bound NiFe hydrogenase, energy converting hydrogenase. This uses the proton-motive force to reduce ferredoxin, thence CO2 . The mechanism suggests that pH could modulate reduction potential at the active site of the enzyme, facilitating the difficult reduction of CO2 by H2 . This mechanism could be generalised under abiotic conditions so that steep pH differences across semi-conducting Fe(Ni)S barriers drives not just the first steps of CO2 fixation to C1 and C2 organics such as CO, CH3 SH and CH3 COSH, but a series of similar carbonylation and hydrogenation reactions to form longer chain carboxylic acids such as pyruvate, oxaloacetate and α-ketoglutarate, as in the incomplete reverse Krebs cycle found in methanogens. We suggest that the closure of a complete reverse Krebs cycle, by regenerating acetyl CoA directly, displaced the acetyl CoA pathway from many modern groups. A later reliance on acetyl CoA and ATP eliminated the need for the proton-motive force to drive most steps of the reverse Krebs cycle. © 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(6):373-381, 2017.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eloi Camprubi
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sean F Jordan
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rafaela Vasiliadou
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nick Lane
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
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42
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Yamamoto M, Nakamura R, Kasaya T, Kumagai H, Suzuki K, Takai K. Spontaneous and Widespread Electricity Generation in Natural Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Fields. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201701768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Yamamoto
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC); Yokosuka 273-0061 Japan
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team; RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science; 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako Saitama 351-0198 Japan
| | - Takafumi Kasaya
- Ore Genesis Research Unit; Project Team for Development of New-generation Research Protocol for Submarine Resources; JAMSTEC; Yokosuka 273-0061 Japan
| | - Hidenori Kumagai
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC); Yokosuka 273-0061 Japan
| | - Katsuhiko Suzuki
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC); Yokosuka 273-0061 Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC); Yokosuka 273-0061 Japan
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43
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Yamamoto M, Nakamura R, Kasaya T, Kumagai H, Suzuki K, Takai K. Spontaneous and Widespread Electricity Generation in Natural Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Fields. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2017; 56:5725-5728. [PMID: 28378459 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201701768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents discharge abundant reductive energy into oxidative seawater. Herein, we demonstrated that in situ measurements of redox potentials on the surfaces of active hydrothermal mineral deposits were more negative than the surrounding seawater potential, driving electrical current generation. We also demonstrated that negative potentials in the surface of minerals were widespread in the hydrothermal fields, regardless of the proximity to hydrothermal fluid discharges. Lab experiments verified that the negative potential of the mineral surface was induced by a distant electron transfer from the hydrothermal fluid through the metallic and catalytic properties of minerals. These results indicate that electric current is spontaneously and widely generated in natural mineral deposits in deep-sea hydrothermal fields. Our discovery provides important insights into the microbial communities that are supported by extracellular electron transfer and the prebiotic chemical and metabolic evolution of the ocean hydrothermal systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Yamamoto
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, 273-0061, Japan
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan
| | - Takafumi Kasaya
- Ore Genesis Research Unit, Project Team for Development of New-generation Research Protocol for Submarine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, 273-0061, Japan
| | - Hidenori Kumagai
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, 273-0061, Japan
| | - Katsuhiko Suzuki
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, 273-0061, Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- Resource Generation Environment Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, 273-0061, Japan
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Barge LM, Branscomb E, Brucato JR, Cardoso SSS, Cartwright JHE, Danielache SO, Galante D, Kee TP, Miguel Y, Mojzsis S, Robinson KJ, Russell MJ, Simoncini E, Sobron P. Thermodynamics, Disequilibrium, Evolution: Far-From-Equilibrium Geological and Chemical Considerations for Origin-Of-Life Research. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2017; 47:39-56. [PMID: 27271006 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-016-9508-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- L M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
- Icy Worlds Team, NASA Astrobiology Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA.
| | - E Branscomb
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - J R Brucato
- Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Florence, Italy
| | - S S S Cardoso
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, UK
| | - J H E Cartwright
- Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, E-18100 Armilla, Granada, Spain
- Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, E-18071, Granada, Spain
| | - S O Danielache
- Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
- Earth and Life Science Institute, Tokyo Technical University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - D Galante
- Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory, LNLS / CNPEM, Campinas, Brazil
| | - T P Kee
- School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Y Miguel
- Observatoire de Côte d'Azur, Nice, France
| | - S Mojzsis
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309-0399, USA
| | - K J Robinson
- School of Molecular Sciences and School of Earth & Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
| | - M J Russell
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
- Icy Worlds Team, NASA Astrobiology Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA
| | - E Simoncini
- Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Florence, Italy
| | - P Sobron
- Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA
- Impossible Sensing, St. Louis, MO, USA
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45
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Deutzmann JS, Spormann AM. Enhanced microbial electrosynthesis by using defined co-cultures. ISME JOURNAL 2016; 11:704-714. [PMID: 27801903 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2016.149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2016] [Revised: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 09/18/2016] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Microbial uptake of free cathodic electrons presents a poorly understood aspect of microbial physiology. Uptake of cathodic electrons is particularly important in microbial electrosynthesis of sustainable fuel and chemical precursors using only CO2 and electricity as carbon, electron and energy source. Typically, large overpotentials (200 to 400 mV) were reported to be required for cathodic electron uptake during electrosynthesis of, for example, methane and acetate, or low electrosynthesis rates were observed. To address these limitations and to explore conceptual alternatives, we studied defined co-cultures metabolizing cathodic electrons. The Fe(0)-corroding strain IS4 was used to catalyze the electron uptake reaction from the cathode forming molecular hydrogen as intermediate, and Methanococcus maripaludis and Acetobacterium woodii were used as model microorganisms for hydrogenotrophic synthesis of methane and acetate, respectively. The IS4-M. maripaludis co-cultures achieved electromethanogenesis rates of 0.1-0.14 μmol cm-2 h-1 at -400 mV vs standard hydrogen electrode and 0.6-0.9 μmol cm-2 h-1 at -500 mV. Co-cultures of strain IS4 and A. woodii formed acetate at rates of 0.21-0.23 μmol cm-2 h-1 at -400 mV and 0.57-0.74 μmol cm-2 h-1 at -500 mV. These data show that defined co-cultures coupling cathodic electron uptake with synthesis reactions via interspecies hydrogen transfer may lay the foundation for an engineering strategy for microbial electrosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jörg S Deutzmann
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alfred M Spormann
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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46
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Zhu DD, Liu JL, Qiao SZ. Recent Advances in Inorganic Heterogeneous Electrocatalysts for Reduction of Carbon Dioxide. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2016; 28:3423-52. [PMID: 26996295 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201504766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 638] [Impact Index Per Article: 79.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2015] [Revised: 11/29/2015] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
In view of the climate changes caused by the continuously rising levels of atmospheric CO2 , advanced technologies associated with CO2 conversion are highly desirable. In recent decades, electrochemical reduction of CO2 has been extensively studied since it can reduce CO2 to value-added chemicals and fuels. Considering the sluggish reaction kinetics of the CO2 molecule, efficient and robust electrocatalysts are required to promote this conversion reaction. Here, recent progress and opportunities in inorganic heterogeneous electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction are discussed, from the viewpoint of both experimental and computational aspects. Based on elemental composition, the inorganic catalysts presented here are classified into four groups: metals, transition-metal oxides, transition-metal chalcogenides, and carbon-based materials. However, despite encouraging accomplishments made in this area, substantial advances in CO2 electrolysis are still needed to meet the criteria for practical applications. Therefore, in the last part, several promising strategies, including surface engineering, chemical modification, nanostructured catalysts, and composite materials, are proposed to facilitate the future development of CO2 electroreduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Dong Zhu
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - Jin Long Liu
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - Shi Zhang Qiao
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
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47
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Kato S. Microbial extracellular electron transfer and its relevance to iron corrosion. Microb Biotechnol 2016; 9:141-8. [PMID: 26863985 PMCID: PMC4767289 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.12340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2015] [Revised: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 11/19/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Extracellular electron transfer (EET) is a microbial metabolism that enables efficient electron transfer between microbial cells and extracellular solid materials. Microorganisms harbouring EET abilities have received considerable attention for their various biotechnological applications, including bioleaching and bioelectrochemical systems. On the other hand, recent research revealed that microbial EET potentially induces corrosion of iron structures. It has been well known that corrosion of iron occurring under anoxic conditions is mostly caused by microbial activities, which is termed as microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). Among diverse MIC mechanisms, microbial EET activity that enhances corrosion via direct uptake of electrons from metallic iron, specifically termed as electrical MIC (EMIC), has been regarded as one of the major causative factors. The EMIC-inducing microorganisms initially identified were certain sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea isolated from marine environments. Subsequently, abilities to induce EMIC were also demonstrated in diverse anaerobic microorganisms in freshwater environments and oil fields, including acetogenic bacteria and nitrate-reducing bacteria. Abilities of EET and EMIC are now regarded as microbial traits more widespread among diverse microbial clades than was thought previously. In this review, basic understandings of microbial EET and recent progresses in the EMIC research are introduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Souichiro Kato
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-17-2-1 Tsukisamu-Higashi, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 062-8517, Japan.,Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8904, Japan.,Division of Applied Bioscience, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita-9 Nishi-9, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8589, Japan
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48
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CO2 Reduction Using an Electrochemical Approach from Chemical, Biological, and Geological Aspects in the Ancient and Modern Earth. LECTURE NOTES IN ENERGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-25400-5_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
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49
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Kitadai N. Energetics of Amino Acid Synthesis in Alkaline Hydrothermal Environments. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2015; 45:377-409. [PMID: 25796392 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-015-9428-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2014] [Accepted: 01/27/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Alkaline hydrothermal systems have received considerable attention as candidates for the origin and evolution of life on the primitive Earth. Nevertheless, sufficient information has not yet been obtained for the thermodynamic properties of amino acids, which are necessary components for life, at high temperatures and alkaline pH. These properties were estimated using experimental high-temperature volume and heat capacity data reported in the literature for several amino acids, together with correlation algorithms and the revised Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers (HKF) equations of state. This approach enabled determination of a complete set of the standard molal thermodynamic data and the revised HKF parameters for the 20 protein amino acids in their zwitterionic and ionization states. The obtained dataset was then used to evaluate the energetics of amino acid syntheses from simple inorganic precursors (CO2, H2, NH3 and H2S) in a simulated alkaline hydrothermal system on the Hadean Earth. Results show that mixing between CO2-rich seawater and the H2-rich hydrothermal fluid can produce energetically favorable conditions for amino acid syntheses, particularly in the lower-temperature region of such systems. Together with data related to the pH and temperature dependences of the energetics of amino acid polymerizations presented in earlier reports, these results suggest the following. Hadean alkaline hydrothermal settings, where steep pH and temperature gradients may have existed between cool, slightly acidic Hadean ocean water and hot, alkaline hydrothermal fluids at the vent-ocean interface, may be energetically the most suitable environment for the synthesis and polymerization of amino acids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norio Kitadai
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan,
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50
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Wang W, Song Y, Wang X, Yang Y, Liu X. Alpha-Oxo Acids Assisted Transformation of FeS to Fe3S4 at Low Temperature: Implications for Abiotic, Biotic, and Prebiotic Mineralization. ASTROBIOLOGY 2015; 15:1043-1051. [PMID: 26625153 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2015.1373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED The mineral greigite (Fe3S4) distributes widely in anoxic marine and lake sedimentary systems, with important implications for magnetostratigraphy and paleomagnetism. In living organisms, magnetotactic bacteria can synthesize greigite grains with regular sizes and morphologies. The cubic Fe3S4 structure also occurs as an integral constituent and active center in a family of iron-sulfur proteins in all life-forms on Earth. This basic biochemistry shared by all organisms implies that the Fe3S4 structure might have evolved in the first protocell. Therefore, greigite is of general interest in geochemistry, geophysics, biomineralogy, and origin-of-life sciences. However, the growth of thermodynamically metastable Fe3S4 crystals often requires strictly defined conditions because both Fe and S show variable valences and it is hard to tune their valence fluctuation. Here, we show that freshly precipitated FeS can be selectively oxidized to form greigite in the presence of α-oxo acids, even at room temperature. Based on a brief overview of the experimental findings, a metal-organic complex intermediate model has been put forward and discussed for the discriminative chemical transformation. The results not only provide a possible pathway for the abiotic formation of greigite in nature but also may help explain the biotic mineralization of greigite in magnetotactic bacteria. Moreover, in the context of prebiotic evolution, along with the synergic evolution between greigite and α-oxo acids, Fe3S4 might have been sequestered by primordial peptides, and the whole finally evolved into the first iron-sulfur protein. KEY WORDS Greigite-Mineralization-α-Oxo acid-Magnetosome-Iron-sulfur protein-Prebiotic evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Wang
- 1 Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin, China
| | - Yongli Song
- 2 Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin, China
| | - Xianjie Wang
- 2 Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin, China
| | - Yanqiang Yang
- 2 Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin, China
| | - Xiaoyang Liu
- 3 State Key Lab of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun, China
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