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Melkikh AV, Bondar VV. Mechanisms and models of movement of protocells and bacteria in the early stages of evolution. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2022; 175:3-13. [PMID: 35987420 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2022.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
A review of the physicochemical models of the movement of protocells and bacteria was performed. The mechanisms of gliding and movement based on flagella are considered. Based on the models, the average speed of movement of protocells and bacteria was calculated. A physicochemical model of bacterial gliding was constructed. The efficiency of the process of converting the energy of ATP into the energy of motion is estimated. A review of models of movement with the help of flagella was performed. A model has been constructed for converting ATP energy into proton and sodium motive forces, which, in turn, are converted into energy of rotor rotation. The problem of the accuracy of operation of nanomachines, on the basis of which the directed movement of bacteria occurs, is discussed. The considered models can be applied to create nanomotors for medical purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- A V Melkikh
- Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
| | - V V Bondar
- Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia
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Babu D, Katsonis N, Lancia F, Plamont R, Ryabchun A. Motile behaviour of droplets in lipid systems. Nat Rev Chem 2022; 6:377-388. [PMID: 37117430 DOI: 10.1038/s41570-022-00392-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Motility is the capacity for living organisms to move autonomously and with purpose, and is essential to life. The transition from abiotic chemistry into motile cellular compartments has yet to be understood, but motile behaviour likely followed chemical evolution because primeval cell survival depended on scouting for resources effectively. Minimalistic motile systems provide an experimental framework to delineate the emergence mechanisms of such an evolutionary asset. In this Review, we discuss frontier developments in controlling the movement of droplets in lipid systems, in particular, chemotactic behaviours driven by fluctuations in interfacial tension, because of its simple mechanism and prebiotic relevance. Although most efforts have focused on designing oil droplet motility in lipid-rich aqueous solutions, we highlight that water droplets can also move in lipid-enriched oils. First, we describe how droplets evolve chemotactic motility in lipid systems. Next, we review how these oil droplets can adapt their movement to illumination conditions. Finally, we discuss examples where chemical reactivity brings complexity to motility. This work contributes to systems chemistry, where chemical reactions combined with physicochemical phenomena can yield new functions, such that a limited set of molecules can promote complex movement at larger functional scales by following the rules of molecular chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dhanya Babu
- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Nathalie Katsonis
- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
| | - Federico Lancia
- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Remi Plamont
- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Alexander Ryabchun
- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
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Wang J, Ren L, Teng R, Epstein IR, Wang H, Zhang M, Yuan L, Gao Q. Rotational Locomotion of an Active Gel Driven by Internal Chemical Signals. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:11987-11991. [PMID: 34889612 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Chemical waves arising from coupled reaction and transport can serve as biomimetic "nerve signals" to study the underlying origin and regulation of active locomotion. During wave propagation in more than one spatial dimension, the propagation direction of spiral and pulse waves in a nanogel-based PAAm self-oscillating gel, i.e., the orientation of the driving force, may deviate from the normal direction to the wave fronts. Alternating forward and backward retrograde wave locomotion along the normal and tangential kinematic vectors with a phase difference leads to a curved path, i.e., rotational locomotion. This work indicates that appendages in an organism are not required for this type of locomotion. This locomotion mechanism reveals a general principle underlying the dynamical origin of biological helical locomotion and also suggests design approaches for complex locomotion of soft robots and smart materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wang
- College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China
| | - Lin Ren
- College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035 Zhejiang, China
| | - Rui Teng
- College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China
| | - Irving R Epstein
- Department of Chemistry and Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110, United States
| | - Hui Wang
- College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China
| | - Meng Zhang
- College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China
| | - Ling Yuan
- College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China
| | - Qingyu Gao
- College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China
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Abstract
Compartmentalisation is recognised to be a primary step for the assembly of non-living matter towards the construction of life-like microensembles. To date, a host of hollow microcompartments with various functionalities have been widely developed. Within this respect, given that dynamic behaviour is one of the fundamental features to distinguish living ensembles from those that are non-living, the design and construction of microcompartments with various dynamic behaviours are attracting considerable interest from a wide range of research communities. Significantly, the created dynamic microcompartments could also be widely used as chassis for further bottom-up design towards building protocell models by integrating and booting up necessary biological information. Herein, strategies to install the various motility behaviours into microcompartments, including haptotaxis, chemotaxis and gravitaxis, are summarized in the anticipation of inspiring more designs towards creating various advanced active microcompartments, and contributing new techniques to the ultimate goal of constructing a basic living unit entirely from non-living components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youping Lin
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology, for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, 150001, P.R. China
| | - Lei Wang
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology, for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, 150001, P.R. China
| | - Xin Huang
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology, for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, 150001, P.R. China
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Protocells and LUCA: Transport of substances from first physicochemical principles. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2019; 145:85-104. [PMID: 30612704 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 12/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Models of the transport of substances in protocells are considered from first physicochemical principles. Functional similarities and differences in the transport systems of archaea, cyanobacteria, E. coli, and diatoms have been analyzed. Based on the selection of the most important transport systems, a model of transport of substances through the membrane of the last universal common ancestor, LUCA, was constructed. Models of isotope separation in protocells were considered. Based on the proposed models, the difference in isotope concentrations in rocks can be predicted, which can serve as an indicator of the presence of life in the early stages of evolution. Mechanisms of energy conversion for the simplest forms of directed motion in protocells are considered. A special stage in the evolution of protocells is proposed - the minimal mobile cell.
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Melkikh AV, Bokunyaeva AO. A Model of Isotope Separation in Cells at the Early Stages of Evolution. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2016; 46:95-104. [PMID: 26314576 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-015-9463-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2015] [Accepted: 08/11/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The separation of the isotopes of certain ions can serve as an important criterion for the presence of life in the early stages of its evolution. A model of the separation of isotopes during their transport through the cell membrane is constructed. The dependence of the selection coefficient on various parameters is found. In particular, it is shown that the maximum efficiency of the transport of ions corresponds to the minimum enrichment coefficient. At the maximum enrichment, the efficiency of the transport system approaches ½. Calculated enrichment coefficients are compared with experimentally obtained values for different types of cells, and the comparison shows a qualitative agreement between these quantities.
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Affiliation(s)
- A V Melkikh
- Ural Federal University, Mita str. 19, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
| | - A O Bokunyaeva
- Ural Federal University, Mita str. 19, Yekaterinburg, Russia
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Melkikh AV. Quantum information and the problem of mechanisms of biological evolution. Biosystems 2013; 115:33-45. [PMID: 24184874 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2013.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2013] [Revised: 10/14/2013] [Accepted: 10/15/2013] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
One of the most important conditions for replication in early evolution is the de facto elimination of the conformational degrees of freedom of the replicators, the mechanisms of which remain unclear. In addition, realistic evolutionary timescales can be established based only on partially directed evolution, further complicating this issue. A division of the various evolutionary theories into two classes has been proposed based on the presence or absence of a priori information about the evolving system. A priori information plays a key role in solving problems in evolution. Here, a model of partially directed evolution, based on the learning automata theory, which includes a priori information about the fitness space, is proposed. A potential repository of such prior information is the states of biologically important molecules. Thus, the need for extended evolutionary synthesis is discussed. Experiments to test the hypothesis of partially directed evolution are proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexey V Melkikh
- Ural Federal University, Mira Street 19, Yekaterinburg 620002, Russia.
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