1
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Song Y, Tüysüz H. CO 2 Fixation to Prebiotic Intermediates over Heterogeneous Catalysts. Acc Chem Res 2024; 57:2038-2047. [PMID: 39024180 PMCID: PMC11308370 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.4c00151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2024] [Revised: 05/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
ConspectusThe study of the origin of life requires a multifaceted approach to understanding where and how life arose on Earth. One of the most compelling hypotheses is the chemosynthetic origin of life at hydrothermal vents, as this condition has been considered viable for early forms of life. The continuous production of H2 and heat by serpentinization generates reductive conditions at hydrothermal vents, in which CO2 can be used to build large biomolecules. Although this involves surface catalysis and an autocatalytic process, in which solid minerals act as catalysts in the conversion of CO2 to metabolically important organic molecules, the systematic investigation of heterogeneous catalysis to comprehend prebiotic chemistry at hydrothermal vents has not been undertaken.In this Account, we discuss geochemical CO2 fixation to metabolic intermediates by synthetic minerals at hydrothermal vents from the perspective of heterogeneous catalysis. Ni and Fe are the most abundant transition metals at hydrothermal vents and occur in the active site of the enzymes carbon monoxide dehydrogenases/acetyl coenzyme A synthases (CODH/ACS). Synthetic free-standing NiFe alloy nanoparticles can convert CO2 to acetyl coenzyme A pathway intermediates such as formate, acetate, and pyruvate. The same alloy can further convert pyruvate to citramalate, which is essential in the biological citramalate pathway. Thermal treatment of Ni3Fe nanoparticles under NH3, which can occur in hydrothermal vents, results in Ni3FeN/Ni3Fe heterostructures. This catalyst has been demonstrated to produce prebiotic formamide and acetamide from CO2 and H2O using Ni3FeN/Ni3Fe as both substrate and catalyst. In the process of serpentinization, Co can be reduced in the vicinity of olivine, a Mg-Fe silicate mineral. This produces CoFe and CoFe2 with serpentine in nature, representing SiO2-supported CoFe alloys. In mimicking these natural minerals, synthetic SiO2-supported CoFe alloys demonstrate the same liquid products as NiFe alloys, namely, formate, acetate, and pyruvate under mild hydrothermal vent conditions. In contrast to the NiFe system, hydrocarbons up to C6 were detected in the gas phase, which is also present in hydrothermal vents. The addition of alkali and alkaline-earth metals to the catalysts results in enhanced formate concentration, playing a promotional role in CO2 reduction. Finally, Co was loaded onto ordered mesoporous SiO2 after modification with cations to simulate the minerals found in hydrothermal vents. These catalysts were then investigated under diminished H2O concentration, revealing the conversion of CO2 to CO, CH4, methanol, and acetate. Notably, the selectivity to metabolically relevant methanol was enhanced in the presence of cations that could generate and stabilize the methoxy intermediate. Calculation using the machine learning approach revealed the possibility of predicting the selectivity of CO2 fixation when modifying mesoporous SiO2 supports with heterocations. Our research demonstrates that minerals at hydrothermal vents can convert CO2 into metabolites under a variety of prebiotic conditions, potentially paving the way for modern biological CO2 fixation processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youngdong Song
- Department of Heterogeneous
Catalysis, Max-Planck-Institut für
Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Harun Tüysüz
- Department of Heterogeneous
Catalysis, Max-Planck-Institut für
Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
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2
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Gentili PL. The Conformational Contribution to Molecular Complexity and Its Implications for Information Processing in Living Beings and Chemical Artificial Intelligence. Biomimetics (Basel) 2024; 9:121. [PMID: 38392167 PMCID: PMC10886813 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics9020121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
This work highlights the relevant contribution of conformational stereoisomers to the complexity and functions of any molecular compound. Conformers have the same molecular and structural formulas but different orientations of the atoms in the three-dimensional space. Moving from one conformer to another is possible without breaking covalent bonds. The interconversion is usually feasible through the thermal energy available in ordinary conditions. The behavior of most biopolymers, such as enzymes, antibodies, RNA, and DNA, is understandable if we consider that each exists as an ensemble of conformers. Each conformational collection confers multi-functionality and adaptability to the single biopolymers. The conformational distribution of any biopolymer has the features of a fuzzy set. Hence, every compound that exists as an ensemble of conformers allows the molecular implementation of a fuzzy set. Since proteins, DNA, and RNA work as fuzzy sets, it is fair to say that life's logic is fuzzy. The power of processing fuzzy logic makes living beings capable of swift decisions in environments dominated by uncertainty and vagueness. These performances can be implemented in chemical robots, which are confined molecular assemblies mimicking unicellular organisms: they are supposed to help humans "colonise" the molecular world to defeat diseases in living beings and fight pollution in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pier Luigi Gentili
- Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Biotechnology, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
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3
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Hirakawa Y, Kakegawa T, Furukawa Y. Hexose phosphorylation for a non-enzymatic glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway on early Earth. Sci Rep 2024; 14:264. [PMID: 38168787 PMCID: PMC10762079 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50743-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathways play essential roles in cellular processes and are assumed to be among the most ancient metabolic pathways. Non-enzymatic metabolism-like reactions might have occurred on the prebiotic Earth and been inherited by the biological reactions. Previous research has identified a part of the non-enzymatic glycolysis and the non-enzymatic pentose phosphate pathway from glucose 6-phosphate and 6-phosphogluconate, which are intermediates of these reactions. However, how these phosphorylated molecules were formed on the prebiotic Earth remains unclear. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of glucose and gluconate from simple aldehydes in alkaline solutions and the formation of glucose 6-phosphate and 6-phosphogluconate with borate using thermal evaporation. These results imply that the initial stages of glycolysis-like and pentose phosphate pathway-like reactions were achieved in borate-rich evaporative environments on prebiotic Earth, suggesting that non-enzymatic metabolism provided biomolecules and their precursors on prebiotic Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuta Hirakawa
- Department of Earth Science, Tohoku University, 6-3, Aza-Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-Ku, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan.
| | - Takeshi Kakegawa
- Department of Earth Science, Tohoku University, 6-3, Aza-Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-Ku, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Furukawa
- Department of Earth Science, Tohoku University, 6-3, Aza-Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-Ku, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan
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4
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Nogal N, Sanz-Sánchez M, Vela-Gallego S, Ruiz-Mirazo K, de la Escosura A. The protometabolic nature of prebiotic chemistry. Chem Soc Rev 2023; 52:7359-7388. [PMID: 37855729 PMCID: PMC10614573 DOI: 10.1039/d3cs00594a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
The field of prebiotic chemistry has been dedicated over decades to finding abiotic routes towards the molecular components of life. There is nowadays a handful of prebiotically plausible scenarios that enable the laboratory synthesis of most amino acids, fatty acids, simple sugars, nucleotides and core metabolites of extant living organisms. The major bottleneck then seems to be the self-organization of those building blocks into systems that can self-sustain. The purpose of this tutorial review is having a close look, guided by experimental research, into the main synthetic pathways of prebiotic chemistry, suggesting how they could be wired through common intermediates and catalytic cycles, as well as how recursively changing conditions could help them engage in self-organized and dissipative networks/assemblies (i.e., systems that consume chemical or physical energy from their environment to maintain their internal organization in a dynamic steady state out of equilibrium). In the article we also pay attention to the implications of this view for the emergence of homochirality. The revealed connectivity between those prebiotic routes should constitute the basis for a robust research program towards the bottom-up implementation of protometabolic systems, taken as a central part of the origins-of-life problem. In addition, this approach should foster further exploration of control mechanisms to tame the combinatorial explosion that typically occurs in mixtures of various reactive precursors, thus regulating the functional integration of their respective chemistries into self-sustaining protocellular assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noemí Nogal
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Marcos Sanz-Sánchez
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Sonia Vela-Gallego
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
- Biofisika Institute (CSIC, UPV/EHU), University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain
- Department of Philosophy, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain
| | - Andrés de la Escosura
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
- Institute for Advanced Research in Chemistry (IAdChem), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain
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5
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Daga KR, Feray Çoşar M, Lowenkron A, Hao J, Rouillard J. Environmental Stability and Its Importance for the Emergence of Darwinian Evolution. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:1960. [PMID: 37895342 PMCID: PMC10608181 DOI: 10.3390/life13101960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of Darwinian evolution represents a central point in the history of life as we know it. However, it is generally assumed that the environments in which life appeared were hydrothermal environments, with highly variable conditions in terms of pH, temperature or redox levels. Are evolutionary processes favored to appear in such settings, where the target of biological adaptation changes over time? How would the first evolving populations compete with non-evolving populations? Using a numerical model, we explore the effect of environmental variation on the outcome of the competition between evolving and non-evolving populations of protocells. Our study found that, while evolving protocells consistently outcompete non-evolving populations in stable environments, they are outcompeted in variable environments when environmental variations occur on a timescale similar to the average duration of a generation. This is due to the energetic burden represented by adaptation to the wrong environmental conditions. Since the timescale of temperature variation in natural hydrothermal settings overlaps with the average prokaryote generation time, the current work indicates that a solution must have been found by early life to overcome this threshold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khushi R. Daga
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA 98104, USA; (K.R.D.); (M.F.Ç.); (A.L.)
| | - Mensura Feray Çoşar
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA 98104, USA; (K.R.D.); (M.F.Ç.); (A.L.)
| | - Abigail Lowenkron
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA 98104, USA; (K.R.D.); (M.F.Ç.); (A.L.)
| | - Jihua Hao
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Joti Rouillard
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA 98104, USA; (K.R.D.); (M.F.Ç.); (A.L.)
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
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6
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Nunes Palmeira R, Colnaghi M, Harrison SA, Pomiankowski A, Lane N. The limits of metabolic heredity in protocells. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221469. [PMID: 36350219 PMCID: PMC9653231 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The universal core of metabolism could have emerged from thermodynamically favoured prebiotic pathways at the origin of life. Starting with H
2
and CO
2
, the synthesis of amino acids and mixed fatty acids, which self-assemble into protocells, is favoured under warm anoxic conditions. Here, we address whether it is possible for protocells to evolve greater metabolic complexity, through positive feedbacks involving nucleotide catalysis. Using mathematical simulations to model metabolic heredity in protocells, based on branch points in protometabolic flux, we show that nucleotide catalysis can indeed promote protocell growth. This outcome only occurs when nucleotides directly catalyse CO
2
fixation. Strong nucleotide catalysis of other pathways (e.g. fatty acids and amino acids) generally unbalances metabolism and slows down protocell growth, and when there is competition between catalytic functions cell growth collapses. Autocatalysis of nucleotide synthesis can promote growth but only if nucleotides also catalyse CO
2
fixation; autocatalysis alone leads to the accumulation of nucleotides at the expense of CO
2
fixation and protocell growth rate. Our findings offer a new framework for the emergence of greater metabolic complexity, in which nucleotides catalyse broad-spectrum processes such as CO
2
fixation, hydrogenation and phosphorylation important to the emergence of genetic heredity at the origin of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Nunes Palmeira
- Department of Computer Science, Engineering Building, Malet Place, University College London, WC1E 7JG, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Marco Colnaghi
- Department of Computer Science, Engineering Building, Malet Place, University College London, WC1E 7JG, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Stuart A. Harrison
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Andrew Pomiankowski
- Department of Computer Science, Engineering Building, Malet Place, University College London, WC1E 7JG, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nick Lane
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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7
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Nader S, Sebastianelli L, Mansy SS. Protometabolism as out-of-equilibrium chemistry. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2022; 380:20200423. [PMID: 35599565 PMCID: PMC9125230 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2020.0423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
It is common to compare life with machines. Both consume fuel and release waste to run. In biology, the engine that drives the living system is referred to as metabolism. However, attempts at deciphering the origins of metabolism do not focus on this energetic relationship that sustains life but rather concentrate on nonenzymatic reactions that produce all the intermediates of an extant metabolic pathway. Such an approach is akin to studying the molecules produced from the burning of coal instead of deciphering how the released energy drives the movement of pistons and ultimately the train when investigating the mechanisms behind locomotion. Theories that do explicitly invoke geological chemical gradients to drive metabolism most frequently feature hydrothermal vent conditions, but hydrothermal vents are not the only regions of the early Earth that could have provided the fuel necessary to sustain the Earth's first (proto)cells. Here, we give examples of prior reports on protometabolism and highlight how more recent investigations of out-of-equilibrium systems may point to alternative scenarios more consistent with the majority of prebiotic chemistry data accumulated thus far. This article is part of the theme issue 'Emergent phenomena in complex physical and socio-technical systems: from cells to societies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serge Nader
- Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, 11227 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2G2
| | - Lorenzo Sebastianelli
- Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, 11227 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2G2
| | - Sheref S. Mansy
- Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, 11227 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2G2
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8
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Arya A, Ray J, Sharma S, Cruz Simbron R, Lozano A, Smith HB, Andersen JL, Chen H, Meringer M, Cleaves HJ. An open source computational workflow for the discovery of autocatalytic networks in abiotic reactions. Chem Sci 2022; 13:4838-4853. [PMID: 35655880 PMCID: PMC9067619 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc00256f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A central question in origins of life research is how non-entailed chemical processes, which simply dissipate chemical energy because they can do so due to immediate reaction kinetics and thermodynamics, enabled the origin of highly-entailed ones, in which concatenated kinetically and thermodynamically favorable processes enhanced some processes over others. Some degree of molecular complexity likely had to be supplied by environmental processes to produce entailed self-replicating processes. The origin of entailment, therefore, must connect to fundamental chemistry that builds molecular complexity. We present here an open-source chemoinformatic workflow to model abiological chemistry to discover such entailment. This pipeline automates generation of chemical reaction networks and their analysis to discover novel compounds and autocatalytic processes. We demonstrate this pipeline's capabilities against a well-studied model system by vetting it against experimental data. This workflow can enable rapid identification of products of complex chemistries and their underlying synthetic relationships to help identify autocatalysis, and potentially self-organization, in such systems. The algorithms used in this study are open-source and reconfigurable by other user-developed workflows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aayush Arya
- Department of Physics, Lovely Professional University Jalandhar Delhi-GT Road Phagwara Punjab 144411 India
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Seattle Washington 98104 USA
| | - Jessica Ray
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Seattle Washington 98104 USA
| | - Siddhant Sharma
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Seattle Washington 98104 USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi New Delhi 110019 India
| | - Romulo Cruz Simbron
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Seattle Washington 98104 USA
- Laboratorio de Investigación Fisicoquímica (LABINFIS), Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería Av. Túpac Amaru 210 Lima Peru
- Centro de Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicaciones (CTIC UNI), Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria Av. Túpac Amaru 210 Lima Peru
| | - Alejandro Lozano
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Seattle Washington 98104 USA
- Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Biotecnología - Instituto Politécnico Nacional 550 Av. Acueducto 07340 Mexico City Mexico
| | - Harrison B Smith
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology Tokyo Japan
| | - Jakob Lykke Andersen
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark Campusvej 55 5230 Odense M Denmark
| | - Huan Chen
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Tallahassee Florida 32310 USA
| | - Markus Meringer
- German Aerospace Center (DLR) 82234 Oberpfaffenhofen Wessling Germany
| | - Henderson James Cleaves
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Seattle Washington 98104 USA
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology Tokyo Japan
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9
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Piedrafita G, Varma SJ, Castro C, Messner CB, Szyrwiel L, Griffin JL, Ralser M. Cysteine and iron accelerate the formation of ribose-5-phosphate, providing insights into the evolutionary origins of the metabolic network structure. PLoS Biol 2021; 19:e3001468. [PMID: 34860829 PMCID: PMC8673631 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2021] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The structure of the metabolic network is highly conserved, but we know little about its evolutionary origins. Key for explaining the early evolution of metabolism is solving a chicken–egg dilemma, which describes that enzymes are made from the very same molecules they produce. The recent discovery of several nonenzymatic reaction sequences that topologically resemble central metabolism has provided experimental support for a “metabolism first” theory, in which at least part of the extant metabolic network emerged on the basis of nonenzymatic reactions. But how could evolution kick-start on the basis of a metal catalyzed reaction sequence, and how could the structure of nonenzymatic reaction sequences be imprinted on the metabolic network to remain conserved for billions of years? We performed an in vitro screening where we add the simplest components of metabolic enzymes, proteinogenic amino acids, to a nonenzymatic, iron-driven reaction network that resembles glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). We observe that the presence of the amino acids enhanced several of the nonenzymatic reactions. Particular attention was triggered by a reaction that resembles a rate-limiting step in the oxidative PPP. A prebiotically available, proteinogenic amino acid cysteine accelerated the formation of RNA nucleoside precursor ribose-5-phosphate from 6-phosphogluconate. We report that iron and cysteine interact and have additive effects on the reaction rate so that ribose-5-phosphate forms at high specificity under mild, metabolism typical temperature and environmental conditions. We speculate that accelerating effects of amino acids on rate-limiting nonenzymatic reactions could have facilitated a stepwise enzymatization of nonenzymatic reaction sequences, imprinting their structure on the evolving metabolic network. The evolutionary origins of metabolism are largely unknown. This study shows that the prebiotically available proteinogenic amino acid cysteine can promote the metabolism-like rate-limiting formation of ribose-5-phosphate, suggesting that early metabolic pathways could have emerged thought the stepwise enzymatization of non-enzymatic reaction sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Piedrafita
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sreejith J. Varma
- Department of Biochemistry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Cecilia Castro
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Christoph B. Messner
- The Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lukasz Szyrwiel
- Department of Biochemistry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- The Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Julian L. Griffin
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
- The Rowett Institute, The University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | - Markus Ralser
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Biochemistry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- The Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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10
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Garte S. The Continuity Principle and the Evolution of Replication Fidelity. Acta Biotheor 2021; 69:303-318. [PMID: 33249536 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-020-09399-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Evolution in modern life requires high replication fidelity to allow for natural selection. A simulation model utilizing simulated phenotype data on cellular probability of survival was developed to determine how self-replication fidelity could evolve in early life. The results indicate that initial survivability and replication fidelity both contribute to overall fitness as measured by growth rates of the cell population. Survival probability was the more dominant feature, and evolution was possible even with zero replication fidelity. A derived formula for the relationship of survival probability and replication fidelity with growth rate was consistent with the simulated empirical data. Quantitative assessment of continuity and other evidence was obtained for a saltation (non-continuous) evolutionary process starting from low to moderate levels of survival probability and self-replication fidelity to reach the high levels seen in modern life forms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seymour Garte
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854-8020, USA.
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11
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Lauber N, Flamm C, Ruiz-Mirazo K. "Minimal metabolism": A key concept to investigate the origins and nature of biological systems. Bioessays 2021; 43:e2100103. [PMID: 34426986 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202100103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The systems view on life and its emergence from complex chemistry has remarkably increased the scientific attention on metabolism in the last two decades. However, during this time there has not been much theoretical discussion on what constitutes a metabolism and what role it actually played in biogenesis. A critical and updated review on the topic is here offered, including some references to classical models from last century, but focusing more on current and future research. Metabolism is considered as intrinsically related to the living but not necessarily equivalent to it. More precisely, the idea of "minimal metabolism", in contrast to previous, top-down conceptions, is formulated as a heuristic construct, halfway between chemistry and biology. Thus, rather than providing a complete or final characterization of metabolism, our aim is to encourage further investigations on it, particularly in the context of life's origin, for which some concrete methodological suggestions are provided. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/DP7VMKk2qpA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nino Lauber
- Biofisika Institute (CSIC, UPV/EHU), University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain.,Department of Philosophy, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain
| | - Christoph Flamm
- Institute for Theoretical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
- Biofisika Institute (CSIC, UPV/EHU), University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain.,Department of Philosophy, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain
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12
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The Semi-Enzymatic Origin of Metabolic Pathways: Inferring a Very Early Stage of the Evolution of Life. J Mol Evol 2021; 89:183-188. [PMID: 33506330 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-021-09994-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The early evolution of life is a period with many important events with a lot of big and open questions. One of them is the evolution of metabolic pathways, which means the origin and assembly of enzymes that act together. The retrograde hypothesis was the first attempt to explain the origin and evolutionary history of metabolic pathways; Norman Horowitz developed this first significant hypothesis. This idea was followed by relevant proposals developed by Sam Granick, who proposed the "forward direction hypothesis," and then the successful idea of "Patchwork" assembly proposed independently by Martynas Yčas and Roy Jensen. Since then, a few new hypotheses were proposed; one of the most influential was made by Antonio Lazcano and Stanley Miller in the Journal Molecular Evolution, the "semi-enzymatic origin" of metabolic pathways. This article was cited more than 160 times, including in most papers published about the early evolution of metabolism, placing it as influential work in the field. The ideas proposed in this work and their effects on studying the origin and early evolution of life are analyzed.
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13
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Bizzarri BM, Fanelli A, Kapralov M, Krasavin E, Saladino R. Meteorite-catalyzed intermolecular trans-glycosylation produces nucleosides under proton beam irradiation. RSC Adv 2021; 11:19258-19264. [PMID: 35478633 PMCID: PMC9033569 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra02379a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Di-glycosylated adenines act as glycosyl donors in the intermolecular trans-glycosylation of pyrimidine nucleobases under proton beam irradiation conditions. Formamide and chondrite meteorite NWA 1465 increased the yield and the selectivity of the reaction. The glycosyl transfer process was highly regioselective in yielding canonical N1-pyrimidine nucleosides, the natural β-anomers prevailing in the presence of formamide and NWA 1465. These data highlight the possible role of intermolecular trans-glycosylation in the prebiotic formation of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides, avoiding the occurrence of independent synthetic pathways. Di-glycosylated adenines act as glycosyl donors in the intermolecular trans-glycosylation of pyrimidine nucleobases under proton beam irradiation conditions.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Angelica Fanelli
- Ecological and Biological Sciences Department (DEB)
- University of Tuscia
- Viterbo
- Italy
| | - Michail Kapralov
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
- JINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology
- Russia
- Dubna State University
- Ulitsa Universitetskaya
| | - Eugene Krasavin
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
- JINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology
- Russia
- Dubna State University
- Ulitsa Universitetskaya
| | - Raffaele Saladino
- Ecological and Biological Sciences Department (DEB)
- University of Tuscia
- Viterbo
- Italy
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14
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Peretó J. Transmetabolism: the non-conformist approach to biotechnology. Microb Biotechnol 2021; 14:41-44. [PMID: 33119190 PMCID: PMC7888464 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Juli Peretó
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyUniversity of ValenciaInstitute for Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio (University of Valencia‐CSIC)Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence SL, Parc Científic de la Universitat de ValènciaPaternaSpain
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15
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Li Z, Liu H, Wang R, Ji C, Wei Y, Shi M, Wang Y, Du Y, Zhang Y, Yuan Q, Yan C. Bioactive Core-Shell CaF 2 Upconversion Nanostructure for Promotion and Visualization of Engineered Bone Reconstruction. ACS NANO 2020; 14:16085-16095. [PMID: 33151671 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c08013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Inorganic ion metabolism plays significant roles in various life processes including signal transduction, substance exchange, and cellular constructions. Regulation and monitoring of ion metabolism offer great promise to modulate biological activities and provide insights into related mechanisms. Here, a synergistic nanodepot based on a bioactive core-shell CaF2 upconversion nanostructure that integrates multiple mineral ions for metabolic regulation was built for the acceleration and monitoring of the biomineralization process. Multiple mineral ions released from the nanodepots can accelerate the growth of inorganic crystals and enhance the production of organic matrixes, synergistically facilitating the regeneration of bone defects in vivo. During the process, such a nanodepot can be constructed to specifically recognize osteoblasts for the monitoring of biomineralization. This nanoprobe represents an efficient strategy to promote and monitor biomineralization-related metabolic activities with applications in fundamental research, disease diagnosis, and regenerative medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihao Li
- Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biological Medicine (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Haoran Liu
- Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biological Medicine (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Rui Wang
- State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) and Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Chenhui Ji
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China
| | - Yan Wei
- State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) and Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Miusi Shi
- State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) and Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Yingqian Wang
- Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biological Medicine (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Yaping Du
- School of Materials Science and Engineering & National Institute for Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry, Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Centre for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Yufeng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) and Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Quan Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biological Medicine (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China
| | - Chunhua Yan
- School of Materials Science and Engineering & National Institute for Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry, Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Centre for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
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16
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Stubbs RT, Yadav M, Krishnamurthy R, Springsteen G. A plausible metal-free ancestral analogue of the Krebs cycle composed entirely of α-ketoacids. Nat Chem 2020; 12:1016-1022. [PMID: 33046840 PMCID: PMC8570912 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-020-00560-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Efforts to decipher the prebiotic roots of metabolic pathways have focused on recapitulating modern biological transformations, with metals typically serving in place of cofactors and enzymes. Here we show that the reaction of glyoxylate with pyruvate under mild aqueous conditions produces a series of α-ketoacid analogues of the reductive citric acid cycle without the need for metals or enzyme catalysts. The transformations proceed in the same sequence as the reverse Krebs cycle, resembling a protometabolic pathway, with glyoxylate acting as both the carbon source and reducing agent. Furthermore, the α-ketoacid analogues provide a natural route for the synthesis of amino acids by transamination with glycine, paralleling the extant metabolic mechanisms and obviating the need for metal-catalysed abiotic reductive aminations. This emerging sequence of prebiotic reactions could have set the stage for the advent of increasingly sophisticated pathways operating under catalytic control.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Trent Stubbs
- Department of Chemistry, Furman University, Greenville, SC, USA
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Mahipal Yadav
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, GA, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Greg Springsteen
- Department of Chemistry, Furman University, Greenville, SC, USA.
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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17
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Abstract
Either stereo reactants or stereo catalysis from achiral or chiral molecules are a prerequisite to obtain pure enantiomeric lipid derivatives. We reviewed a few plausibly organic syntheses of phospholipids under prebiotic conditions with special attention paid to the starting materials as pro-chiral dihydroxyacetone and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), which are the key molecules to break symmetry in phospholipids. The advantages of homochiral membranes compared to those of heterochiral membranes were analysed in terms of specific recognition, optimal functions of enzymes, membrane fluidity and topological packing. All biological membranes contain enantiomerically pure lipids in modern bacteria, eukarya and archaea. The contemporary archaea, comprising of methanogens, halobacteria and thermoacidophiles, are living under extreme conditions reminiscent of primitive environment and may indicate the origin of one ancient evolution path of lipid biosynthesis. The analysis of the known lipid metabolism reveals that all modern cells including archaea synthetize enantiomerically pure lipid precursors from prochiral DHAP. Sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (G1PDH), usually found in archaea, catalyses the formation of sn-glycerol-1-phosphate (G1P), while sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) catalyses the formation of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) in bacteria and eukarya. The selective enzymatic activity seems to be the main strategy that evolution retained to obtain enantiomerically pure lipids. The occurrence of two genes encoding for G1PDH and G3PDH served to build up an evolutionary tree being the basis of our hypothesis article focusing on the evolution of these two genes. Gene encoding for G3PDH in eukarya may originate from G3PDH gene found in rare archaea indicating that archaea appeared earlier in the evolutionary tree than eukarya. Archaea and bacteria evolved probably separately, due to their distinct respective genes coding for G1PDH and G3PDH. We propose that prochiral DHAP is an essential molecule since it provides a convergent link between G1DPH and G3PDH. The synthesis of enantiopure phospholipids from DHAP appeared probably firstly in the presence of chemical catalysts, before being catalysed by enzymes which were the products of later Darwinian selection. The enzymes were probably selected for their efficient catalytic activities during evolution from large libraries of vesicles containing amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, lipids, and meteorite components that induced symmetry imbalance.
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18
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The Messy Alkaline Formose Reaction and Its Link to Metabolism. Life (Basel) 2020; 10:life10080125. [PMID: 32731352 PMCID: PMC7460143 DOI: 10.3390/life10080125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Sugars are essential for the formation of genetic elements such as RNA and as an energy/food source. Thus, the formose reaction, which autocatalytically generates a multitude of sugars from formaldehyde, has been viewed as a potentially important prebiotic source of biomolecules at the origins of life. When analyzing our formose solutions we find that many of the chemical species are simple carboxylic acids, including α-hydroxy acids, associated with metabolism. In this work we posit that the study of the formose reaction, under alkaline conditions and moderate hydrothermal temperatures, should not be solely focused on sugars for genetic materials, but should focus on the origins of metabolism (via metabolic molecules) as well.
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19
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Muchowska KB, Varma SJ, Moran J. Nonenzymatic Metabolic Reactions and Life's Origins. Chem Rev 2020; 120:7708-7744. [PMID: 32687326 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 123] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Prebiotic chemistry aims to explain how the biochemistry of life as we know it came to be. Most efforts in this area have focused on provisioning compounds of importance to life by multistep synthetic routes that do not resemble biochemistry. However, gaining insight into why core metabolism uses the molecules, reactions, pathways, and overall organization that it does requires us to consider molecules not only as synthetic end goals. Equally important are the dynamic processes that build them up and break them down. This perspective has led many researchers to the hypothesis that the first stage of the origin of life began with the onset of a primitive nonenzymatic version of metabolism, initially catalyzed by naturally occurring minerals and metal ions. This view of life's origins has come to be known as "metabolism first". Continuity with modern metabolism would require a primitive version of metabolism to build and break down ketoacids, sugars, amino acids, and ribonucleotides in much the same way as the pathways that do it today. This review discusses metabolic pathways of relevance to the origin of life in a manner accessible to chemists, and summarizes experiments suggesting several pathways might have their roots in prebiotic chemistry. Finally, key remaining milestones for the protometabolic hypothesis are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sreejith J Varma
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS UMR 7006, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Joseph Moran
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS UMR 7006, 67000 Strasbourg, France
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20
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Cornish-Bowden A, Cárdenas ML. Contrasting theories of life: Historical context, current theories. In search of an ideal theory. Biosystems 2020; 188:104063. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2019.104063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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21
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Šponer JE, Šponer J, Di Mauro E. Structural and Energetic Compatibility: The Driving Principles of Molecular Evolution. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:1117-1122. [PMID: 31045430 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In this work, we provide an answer to the question formulated by Albert Eschenmoser: "How would you envisage the bridge between potentially primordial geochemistry that had been disordered and one that gradually became self-organizing?" Analysis of the free-energy profiles of some of the key reactions leading to formation of nucleotides and their oligomers shows that, whereas the first part of the pathway, up to nucleotides, is energy-driven, in the second low-energy part entropic control in the form of structural compatibility becomes more important. We suggest that the birth of modern metabolism requires structural compatibility, which is enabled by the commensurability of the thermodynamics of the synthetic steps with the stabilizing effect of those intermolecular interactions that play a key role in dictating entropic control of these reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit E Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Ernesto Di Mauro
- Institute for Molecular Biology and Pathology, CNR, c/o Università Sapienza, Roma, Italy
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22
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Huck J, Kosikova T, Philp D. Compositional Persistence in a Multicyclic Network of Synthetic Replicators. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:13905-13913. [PMID: 31403776 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b06697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of collections of simple chemical entities that create self-sustaining reaction networks, embedding replication and catalysis, is cited as a potential mechanism for the appearance on the early Earth of systems that satisfy minimal definitions of life. In this work, a functional reaction network that creates and maintains a set of privileged replicator structures through auto- and cross-catalyzed reaction cycles is created from the pairwise combinations of four reagents. We show that the addition of individual preformed templates to this network, representing instructions to synthesize a specific replicator, induces changes in the output composition of the system that represent a network-level response. Further, we establish through sets of serial transfer experiments that the catalytic connections that exist between the four replicators in this network and the system-level behavior thereby encoded impose limits on the compositional variability that can be induced by repeated exposure to instructional inputs, in the form of preformed templates, to the system. The origin of this persistence is traced through kinetic simulations to the properties and inter-relationships between the critical ternary complexes formed by the auto- and crosscatalytic templates. These results demonstrate that in an environment where there is no continuous selection pressure the network connectivity, described by the catalytic relationships and system-level interactions between the replicators, is persistent, thereby limiting the ability of this network to adapt and evolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jürgen Huck
- School of Chemistry and EaStCHEM , University of St Andrews , North Haugh , St Andrews , Fife KY16 9ST , U.K
| | - Tamara Kosikova
- School of Chemistry and EaStCHEM , University of St Andrews , North Haugh , St Andrews , Fife KY16 9ST , U.K
| | - Douglas Philp
- School of Chemistry and EaStCHEM , University of St Andrews , North Haugh , St Andrews , Fife KY16 9ST , U.K
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23
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Doran D, Abul‐Haija YM, Cronin L. Emergence of Function and Selection from Recursively Programmed Polymerisation Reactions in Mineral Environments. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201902287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David Doran
- School of ChemistryUniversity of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QQ UK
| | | | - Leroy Cronin
- School of ChemistryUniversity of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QQ UK
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24
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Doran D, Abul-Haija YM, Cronin L. Emergence of Function and Selection from Recursively Programmed Polymerisation Reactions in Mineral Environments. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2019; 58:11253-11256. [PMID: 31206983 PMCID: PMC6772075 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201902287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Living systems are characterised by an ability to sustain chemical reaction networks far-from-equilibrium. It is likely that life first arose through a process of continual disruption of equilibrium states in recursive reaction networks, driven by periodic environmental changes. Herein, we report the emergence of proto-enzymatic function from recursive polymerisation reactions using amino acids and glycolic acid. Reactions were kept out of equilibrium by diluting products 9:1 in fresh starting solution at the end of each recursive cycle, and the development of complex high molecular weight species is explored using a new metric, the Mass Index, which allows the complexity of the system to be explored as a function of cycle. This process was carried out on a range of different mineral environments. We explored the hypothesis that disrupting equilibrium via recursive cycling imposes a selection pressure and subsequent boundary conditions on products. After just four reaction cycles, product mixtures from recursive reactions exhibit greater catalytic activity and truncation of product space towards higher-molecular-weight species compared to non-recursive controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Doran
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | | | - Leroy Cronin
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
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25
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Kosikova T, Philp D. Two Synthetic Replicators Compete To Process a Dynamic Reagent Pool. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:3059-3072. [PMID: 30668914 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b12077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Complementary building blocks, comprising a set of four aromatic aldehydes and a set of four nucleophiles-three anilines and one hydroxylamine-combine through condensation reactions to afford a dynamic covalent library (DCL) consisting of the eight starting materials and 16 condensation products. One of the aldehydes and, consequently, all of the DCL members derived from this compound bear an amidopyridine recognition site. Exposure of this DCL to two maleimides, Mp and Mm, each equipped with a carboxylic acid recognition site, results in the formation of a series of products through irreversible 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions with the four nitrones present in the DCL. However, only the two cycloadducts in the product pool that incorporate both recognition sites, Tp and Tm, are self-replicators that can harness the DCL as feedstock for their own formation, facilitating their own synthesis via autocatalytic and cross-catalytic pathways. The ability of these replicators to direct their own formation from the components present in the dynamic reagent pool in response to the input of instructions in the form of preformed replicators is demonstrated through a series of quantitative 19F{1H} NMR spectroscopy experiments. Simulations establish the critical relationships between the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the replicators, the initial reagent concentrations, and the presence or absence of the DCL and their influence on the competition between Tp and Tm. Thus, we establish the rules that govern the behavior of the competing replicators under conditions where their formation is coupled tightly to the processing of a DCL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Kosikova
- School of Chemistry and EaStCHEM , University of St Andrews , North Haugh , St Andrews , KY16 9ST Fife , United Kingdom
| | - Douglas Philp
- School of Chemistry and EaStCHEM , University of St Andrews , North Haugh , St Andrews , KY16 9ST Fife , United Kingdom
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26
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Influence of pathway topology and functional class on the molecular evolution of human metabolic genes. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0208782. [PMID: 30550546 PMCID: PMC6294346 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Metabolic networks comprise thousands of enzymatic reactions functioning in a controlled manner and have been shaped by natural selection. Thanks to the genome data, the footprints of adaptive (positive) selection are detectable, and the strength of purifying selection can be measured. This has made possible to know where, in the metabolic network, adaptive selection has acted and where purifying selection is more or less strong and efficient. We have carried out a comprehensive molecular evolutionary study of all the genes involved in the human metabolism. We investigated the type and strength of the selective pressures that acted on the enzyme-coding genes belonging to metabolic pathways during the divergence of primates and rodents. Then, we related those selective pressures to the functional and topological characteristics of the pathways. We have used DNA sequences of all enzymes (956) of the metabolic pathways comprised in the HumanCyc database, using genome data for humans and five other mammalian species. We have found that the evolution of metabolic genes is primarily constrained by the layer of the metabolism in which the genes participate: while genes encoding enzymes of the inner core of metabolism are much conserved, those encoding enzymes participating in the outer layer, mediating the interaction with the environment, are evolutionarily less constrained and more plastic, having experienced faster functional evolution. Genes that have been targeted by adaptive selection are endowed by higher out-degree centralities than non-adaptive genes, while genes with high in-degree centralities are under stronger purifying selection. When the position along the pathway is considered, a funnel-like distribution of the strength of the purifying selection is found. Genes at bottom positions are highly preserved by purifying selection, whereas genes at top positions, catalyzing the first steps, are open to evolutionary changes. These results show how functional and topological characteristics of metabolic pathways contribute to shape the patterns of evolutionary pressures driven by natural selection and how pathway network structure matters in the evolutionary process that shapes the evolution of the system.
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27
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Muñoz-Velasco I, García-Ferris C, Hernandez-Morales R, Lazcano A, Peretó J, Becerra A. Methanogenesis on Early Stages of Life: Ancient but Not Primordial. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2018; 48:407-420. [PMID: 30612264 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-018-9570-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Of the six known autotrophic pathways, the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WL) is the only one present in both the acetate producing Bacteria (homoacetogens) and the methane producing Archaea (hydrogenotrophic methanogens), and it has been suggested that WL is one of the oldest metabolic pathways. However, only the so-called carbonyl branch is shared by Archaea and Bacteria, while the methyl branch is different, both in the number of reactions and enzymes, which are not homologous among them. In this work we show that some parts of the methyl branch of archaeal Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (MBWL) are present in bacteria as well as in non-methanogen archaea, although the tangled evolutionary history of MBWL cannot be traced back to the Last Common Ancestor. We have also analyzed the different variants of methanogenesis (hydrogenotrophic, acetoclastic and methylotrophic pathways), and concluded that each of these pathways, and every different enzyme or subunit (in the case of multimeric enzymes), has their own intricate evolutionary history. Our study supports the scenario of hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis being older than the other variants, albeit not old enough to be present in the last archaeal common ancestor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Israel Muñoz-Velasco
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 70-407 Cd. Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Unidad de Posgrado, Edificio A, 1° Piso, Circuito de Posgrados, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P., 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Carlos García-Ferris
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat de València, Apartat Postal 22085, 46071, València, Spain
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, (I2SysBio, Universitat de València-CSIC), Apartat Postal 22085, 46071, València, Spain
| | - Ricardo Hernandez-Morales
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 70-407 Cd. Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Antonio Lazcano
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 70-407 Cd. Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
- Miembro de El Colegio Nacional, El Colegio Nacional, Donceles 104, Centro Histórico, 06020, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Juli Peretó
- Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat de València, Apartat Postal 22085, 46071, València, Spain
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, (I2SysBio, Universitat de València-CSIC), Apartat Postal 22085, 46071, València, Spain
| | - Arturo Becerra
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 70-407 Cd. Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
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28
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Metabolic models and gene essentiality data reveal essential and conserved metabolism in prokaryotes. PLoS Comput Biol 2018; 14:e1006556. [PMID: 30444863 PMCID: PMC6283598 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Revised: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 10/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Essential metabolic reactions are shaping constituents of metabolic networks, enabling viable and distinct phenotypes across diverse life forms. Here we analyse and compare modelling predictions of essential metabolic functions with experimental data and thereby identify core metabolic pathways in prokaryotes. Simulations of 15 manually curated genome-scale metabolic models were integrated with 36 large-scale gene essentiality datasets encompassing a wide variety of species of bacteria and archaea. Conservation of metabolic genes was estimated by analysing 79 representative genomes from all the branches of the prokaryotic tree of life. We find that essentiality patterns reflect phylogenetic relations both for modelling and experimental data, which correlate highly at the pathway level. Genes that are essential for several species tend to be highly conserved as opposed to non-essential genes which may be conserved or not. The tRNA-charging module is highlighted as ancestral and with high centrality in the networks, followed closely by cofactor metabolism, pointing to an early information processing system supplied by organic cofactors. The results, which point to model improvements and also indicate faults in the experimental data, should be relevant to the study of centrality in metabolic networks and ancient metabolism but also to metabolic engineering with prokaryotes. If we tried to list every known chemical reaction within an organism–human, plant or even bacteria–we would get quite a long and confusing read. But when this information is represented in so-called genome-scale metabolic networks, we have the means to access computationally each of those reactions and their interconnections. Some parts of the network have alternatives, while others are unique and therefore can be essential for growth. Here, we simulate growth and compare essential reactions and genes for the simplest type of unicellular species–prokaryotes–to understand which parts of their metabolism are universally essential and potentially ancestral. We show that similar patterns of essential reactions echo phylogenetic relationships (this makes sense, as the genome provides the building plan for the enzymes that perform those reactions). Our computational predictions correlate strongly with experimental essentiality data. Finally, we show that a crucial step of protein synthesis (tRNA charging) and the synthesis and transformation of small molecules that enzymes require (cofactors) are the most essential and conserved parts of metabolism in prokaryotes. Our results are a step further in understanding the biology and evolution of prokaryotes but can also be relevant in applied studies including metabolic engineering and antibiotic design.
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Chemomimesis and Molecular Darwinism in Action: From Abiotic Generation of Nucleobases to Nucleosides and RNA. Life (Basel) 2018; 8:life8020024. [PMID: 29925796 PMCID: PMC6027154 DOI: 10.3390/life8020024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2018] [Revised: 06/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Molecular Darwinian evolution is an intrinsic property of reacting pools of molecules resulting in the adaptation of the system to changing conditions. It has no a priori aim. From the point of view of the origin of life, Darwinian selection behavior, when spontaneously emerging in the ensembles of molecules composing prebiotic pools, initiates subsequent evolution of increasingly complex and innovative chemical information. On the conservation side, it is a posteriori observed that numerous biological processes are based on prebiotically promptly made compounds, as proposed by the concept of Chemomimesis. Molecular Darwinian evolution and Chemomimesis are principles acting in balanced cooperation in the frame of Systems Chemistry. The one-pot synthesis of nucleosides in radical chemistry conditions is possibly a telling example of the operation of these principles. Other indications of similar cases of molecular evolution can be found among biogenic processes.
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Clark BC, Kolb VM. Comet Pond II: Synergistic Intersection of Concentrated Extraterrestrial Materials and Planetary Environments to Form Procreative Darwinian Ponds. Life (Basel) 2018; 8:E12. [PMID: 29751593 PMCID: PMC6027224 DOI: 10.3390/life8020012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Revised: 04/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In the “comet pond” model, a rare combination of circumstances enables the entry and landing of pristine organic material onto a planetary surface with the creation of a pond by a soft impact and melting of entrained ices. Formation of the constituents of the comet in the cold interstellar medium and our circumstellar disk results in multiple constituents at disequilibrium which undergo rapid chemical reactions in the warmer, liquid environment. The planetary surface also provides minerals and atmospheric gases which chemically interact with the pond’s organic- and trace-element-rich constituents. Pond physical morphology and the heterogeneities imposed by gravitational forces (bottom sludge; surface scum) and weather result in a highly heterogeneous variety of macro- and microenvironments. Wet/dry, freeze/thaw, and natural chromatography processes further promote certain reaction sequences. Evaporation concentrates organics less volatile than water. Freezing concentrates all soluble organics into a residual liquid phase, including CH₃OH, HCN, etc. The pond’s evolutionary processes culminate in the creation of a Macrobiont with the metabolically equivalent capabilities of energy transduction and replication of RNA (or its progenitor informational macromolecule), from which smaller organisms can emerge. Planet-wide dispersal of microorganisms is achieved through wind transport, groundwater, and/or spillover from the pond into surface hydrologic networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benton C Clark
- Research Branch, Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO 80201, USA.
| | - Vera M Kolb
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin⁻Parkside, Kenosha, WI 53141, USA.
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Varma SJ, Muchowska KB, Chatelain P, Moran J. Native iron reduces CO 2 to intermediates and end-products of the acetyl-CoA pathway. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:1019-1024. [PMID: 29686234 PMCID: PMC5969571 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0542-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 03/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Autotrophic theories for the origin of life propose that CO2 was the carbon source for primordial biosynthesis. Among the six known CO2 fixation pathways in nature, the acetyl CoA (or Wood-Ljungdahl) pathway is the most ancient, and relies on transition metals for catalysis. Modern microbes that use the acetyl CoA pathway typically fix CO2 with electrons from H2, which requires complex flavin-based electron bifurcation. This presents a paradox: How could primitive metabolic systems have fixed CO2 before the origin of proteins? Here we show that native transition metals (Fe0, Ni0, Co0) selectively reduce CO2 to acetate and pyruvate, the intermediates and end-products of the AcCoA pathway, in near mM levels in water over hours to days using 1-40 bar CO2 and at temperatures from 30-100 °C. Geochemical CO2 fixation from native metals could have supplied critical C2 and C3 metabolites before the emergence of enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sreejith J Varma
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research , Strasbourg, France
| | - Kamila B Muchowska
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research , Strasbourg, France
| | - Paul Chatelain
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research , Strasbourg, France
| | - Joseph Moran
- Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (UMR 7006), University of Strasbourg, National Center for Scientific Research , Strasbourg, France.
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Kosikova T, Philp D. Exploring the emergence of complexity using synthetic replicators. Chem Soc Rev 2018; 46:7274-7305. [PMID: 29099123 DOI: 10.1039/c7cs00123a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
A significant number of synthetic systems capable of replicating themselves or entities that are complementary to themselves have appeared in the last 30 years. Building on an understanding of the operation of synthetic replicators in isolation, this field has progressed to examples where catalytic relationships between replicators within the same network and the extant reaction conditions play a role in driving phenomena at the level of the whole system. Systems chemistry has played a pivotal role in the attempts to understand the origin of biological complexity by exploiting the power of synthetic chemistry, in conjunction with the molecular recognition toolkit pioneered by the field of supramolecular chemistry, thereby permitting the bottom-up engineering of increasingly complex reaction networks from simple building blocks. This review describes the advances facilitated by the systems chemistry approach in relating the expression of complex and emergent behaviour in networks of replicators with the connectivity and catalytic relationships inherent within them. These systems, examined within well-stirred batch reactors, represent conceptual and practical frameworks that can then be translated to conditions that permit replicating systems to overcome the fundamental limits imposed on selection processes in networks operating under closed conditions. This shift away from traditional spatially homogeneous reactors towards dynamic and non-equilibrium conditions, such as those provided by reaction-diffusion reaction formats, constitutes a key change that mimics environments within cellular systems, which possess obvious compartmentalisation and inhomogeneity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Kosikova
- School of Chemistry and EaStCHEM, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, UK.
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Jeilani YA, Ross B, Aweis N, Fearce C, Minh Hung H, Nguyen MT. Reaction Routes for Experimentally Observed Intermediates in the Prebiotic Formation of Nucleobases under High-Temperature Conditions. J Phys Chem A 2018; 122:2992-3003. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.7b11466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yassin A. Jeilani
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane, S.W., Box 1134, Atlanta, Georgia 30314, United States
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia
| | - Brooke Ross
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane, S.W., Box 1134, Atlanta, Georgia 30314, United States
| | - Nasrin Aweis
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane, S.W., Box 1134, Atlanta, Georgia 30314, United States
| | - Chelesa Fearce
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane, S.W., Box 1134, Atlanta, Georgia 30314, United States
| | - Huynh Minh Hung
- Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Minh Tho Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Adam PS, Borrel G, Gribaldo S. Evolutionary history of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase, one of the oldest enzymatic complexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E1166-E1173. [PMID: 29358391 PMCID: PMC5819426 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1716667115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase (CODH/ACS) is a five-subunit enzyme complex responsible for the carbonyl branch of the Wood-Ljungdahl (WL) pathway, considered one of the most ancient metabolisms for anaerobic carbon fixation, but its origin and evolutionary history have been unclear. While traditionally associated with methanogens and acetogens, the presence of CODH/ACS homologs has been reported in a large number of uncultured anaerobic lineages. Here, we have carried out an exhaustive phylogenomic study of CODH/ACS in over 6,400 archaeal and bacterial genomes. The identification of complete and likely functional CODH/ACS complexes in these genomes significantly expands its distribution in microbial lineages. The CODH/ACS complex displays astounding conservation and vertical inheritance over geological times. Rare intradomain and interdomain transfer events might tie into important functional transitions, including the acquisition of CODH/ACS in some archaeal methanogens not known to fix carbon, the tinkering of the complex in a clade of model bacterial acetogens, or emergence of archaeal-bacterial hybrid complexes. Once these transfers were clearly identified, our results allowed us to infer the presence of a CODH/ACS complex with at least four subunits in the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). Different scenarios on the possible role of ancestral CODH/ACS are discussed. Despite common assumptions, all are equally compatible with an autotrophic, mixotrophic, or heterotrophic LUCA. Functional characterization of CODH/ACS from a larger spectrum of bacterial and archaeal lineages and detailed evolutionary analysis of the WL methyl branch will help resolve this issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiotis S Adam
- Unit Evolutionary Biology of the Microbial Cell, Department of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
- Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Guillaume Borrel
- Unit Evolutionary Biology of the Microbial Cell, Department of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Simonetta Gribaldo
- Unit Evolutionary Biology of the Microbial Cell, Department of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France;
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Guttenberg N, Virgo N, Chandru K, Scharf C, Mamajanov I. Bulk measurements of messy chemistries are needed for a theory of the origins of life. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2017; 375:rsta.2016.0347. [PMID: 29133446 PMCID: PMC5686404 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2016.0347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/08/2017] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
A feature of many of the chemical systems plausibly involved in the origins of terrestrial life is that they are complex and messy-producing a wide range of compounds via a wide range of mechanisms. However, the fundamental behaviour of such systems is currently not well understood; we do not have the tools to make statistical predictions about such complex chemical networks. This is, in part, due to a lack of quantitative data from which such a theory could be built; specifically, functional measurements of messy chemical systems. Here, we propose that the pantheon of experimental approaches to the origins of life should be expanded to include the study of 'functional measurements'-the direct study of bulk properties of chemical systems and their interactions with other compounds, the formation of structures and other behaviours, even in cases where the precise composition and mechanisms are unknown.This article is part of the themed issue 'Reconceptualizing the origins of life'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Guttenberg
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
- Araya Brain Imaging, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Nathaniel Virgo
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Kuhan Chandru
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Caleb Scharf
- Columbia Astrobiology Center, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Irena Mamajanov
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
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36
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Solé R. The major synthetic evolutionary transitions. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 371:rstb.2016.0175. [PMID: 27431528 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolution is marked by well-defined events involving profound innovations that are known as 'major evolutionary transitions'. They involve the integration of autonomous elements into a new, higher-level organization whereby the former isolated units interact in novel ways, losing their original autonomy. All major transitions, which include the origin of life, cells, multicellular systems, societies or language (among other examples), took place millions of years ago. Are these transitions unique, rare events? Have they instead universal traits that make them almost inevitable when the right pieces are in place? Are there general laws of evolutionary innovation? In order to approach this problem under a novel perspective, we argue that a parallel class of evolutionary transitions can be explored involving the use of artificial evolutionary experiments where alternative paths to innovation can be explored. These 'synthetic' transitions include, for example, the artificial evolution of multicellular systems or the emergence of language in evolved communicating robots. These alternative scenarios could help us to understand the underlying laws that predate the rise of major innovations and the possibility for general laws of evolved complexity. Several key examples and theoretical approaches are summarized and future challenges are outlined.This article is part of the themed issue 'The major synthetic evolutionary transitions'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricard Solé
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, CSIC-UPF, Pg Maritim de la Barceloneta 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
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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: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.4] [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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Solé R. Synthetic transitions: towards a new synthesis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20150438. [PMID: 27431516 PMCID: PMC4958932 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of life in our biosphere has been marked by several major innovations. Such major complexity shifts include the origin of cells, genetic codes or multicellularity to the emergence of non-genetic information, language or even consciousness. Understanding the nature and conditions for their rise and success is a major challenge for evolutionary biology. Along with data analysis, phylogenetic studies and dedicated experimental work, theoretical and computational studies are an essential part of this exploration. With the rise of synthetic biology, evolutionary robotics, artificial life and advanced simulations, novel perspectives to these problems have led to a rather interesting scenario, where not only the major transitions can be studied or even reproduced, but even new ones might be potentially identified. In both cases, transitions can be understood in terms of phase transitions, as defined in physics. Such mapping (if correct) would help in defining a general framework to establish a theory of major transitions, both natural and artificial. Here, we review some advances made at the crossroads between statistical physics, artificial life, synthetic biology and evolutionary robotics.This article is part of the themed issue 'The major synthetic evolutionary transitions'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricard Solé
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, CSIC-UPF, Pg Maritim de la Barceloneta 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
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Serafino L. Abiogenesis as a theoretical challenge: Some reflections. J Theor Biol 2016; 402:18-20. [PMID: 27139838 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.04.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2016] [Accepted: 04/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In this paper I will reflect on the intellectual rationale underlying the origin of life scientific research efforts by reconsidering some of its conceptual premises and difficulties.
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da Costa C, Galembeck E. The evolution of the Krebs cycle: A promising subject for meaningful learning of biochemistry. BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION : A BIMONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2016; 44:288-296. [PMID: 26952386 DOI: 10.1002/bmb.20946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2015] [Revised: 09/30/2015] [Accepted: 11/29/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Evolution has been recognized as a key concept for biologists. To enhance comprehension and motivate biology undergraduates for the contents of central energetic metabolism, we addressed the Krebs cycle structure and functions in an evolutionary view. To this end, we created a study guide that contextualizes the emergence of the cyclic pathway, in light of the prokaryotic influence since the early anaerobic condition of the Earth to increase oxygen in the atmosphere. The study guide is composed of three interrelated sections: (1) a problem, designed to arouse curiosity, inform and motivate students, (2) a text about life evolution, including early microorganisms and the emergence of the Krebs cycle, and (3) questions for debate. The activity consisted on individual reading and peer discussion based on this written material, under the guidance of the instructors. The questions were designed to foster debate in an ever-increasing level of complexity and to strengthen the main contextual aspects leading to emergence, evolving, and permanency of a complex metabolic pathway. Based on classroom observation, analysis of student's written responses, and individual interviews, we noticed they were engaged and motivated by the task, especially during group discussion. The whole experience suggests that the study guide was a stimulus to broaden the comprehension of the Krebs cycle, reinforcing the evolutionary approach as an important subject for learning purposes. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 44:288-296, 2016.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caetano da Costa
- Department of UNICAMP, Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Galembeck
- Department of UNICAMP, Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Campinas, SP, Brazil
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41
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Deans RM, Taniguchi M, Chandrashaker V, Ptaszek M, Chambers DR, Soares ARM, Lindsey JS. Complexity in structure-directed prebiotic chemistry. Unexpected compositional richness from competing reactants in tetrapyrrole formation. NEW J CHEM 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6nj00543h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Acyclic reactants afford “partially defective” pyrroles that interfere with chain growth of “normal” pyrroles on the path to tetrapyrrole macrocycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard M. Deans
- Department of Chemistry
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
| | | | | | - Marcin Ptaszek
- Department of Chemistry
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
| | - Dana R. Chambers
- Department of Chemistry
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
| | - Ana R. M. Soares
- Department of Chemistry
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
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42
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Keller MA, Zylstra A, Castro C, Turchyn AV, Griffin JL, Ralser M. Conditional iron and pH-dependent activity of a non-enzymatic glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2016; 2:e1501235. [PMID: 26824074 PMCID: PMC4730858 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2015] [Accepted: 11/18/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about the evolutionary origins of metabolism. However, key biochemical reactions of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), ancient metabolic pathways central to the metabolic network, have non-enzymatic pendants that occur in a prebiotically plausible reaction milieu reconstituted to contain Archean sediment metal components. These non-enzymatic reactions could have given rise to the origin of glycolysis and the PPP during early evolution. Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high-content metabolomics that allowed us to measure several thousand reaction mixtures, we experimentally address the chemical logic of a metabolism-like network constituted from these non-enzymatic reactions. Fe(II), the dominant transition metal component of Archean oceanic sediments, has binding affinity toward metabolic sugar phosphates and drives metabolism-like reactivity acting as both catalyst and cosubstrate. Iron and pH dependencies determine a metabolism-like network topology and comediate reaction rates over several orders of magnitude so that the network adopts conditional activity. Alkaline pH triggered the activity of the non-enzymatic PPP pendant, whereas gentle acidic or neutral conditions favored non-enzymatic glycolytic reactions. Fe(II)-sensitive glycolytic and PPP-like reactions thus form a chemical network mimicking structural features of extant carbon metabolism, including topology, pH dependency, and conditional reactivity. Chemical networks that obtain structure and catalysis on the basis of transition metals found in Archean sediments are hence plausible direct precursors of cellular metabolic networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus A. Keller
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Andre Zylstra
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Cecilia Castro
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Alexandra V. Turchyn
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
| | - Julian L. Griffin
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
- MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, 120 Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
| | - Markus Ralser
- Department of Biochemistry and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
- The Francis Crick Institute, Mill Hill Laboratory, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK
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43
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Gil R, Peretó J. Small genomes and the difficulty to define minimal translation and metabolic machineries. Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Andersen JL, Flamm C, Merkle D, Stadler PF. In silicoSupport for Eschenmoser’s Glyoxylate Scenario. Isr J Chem 2015. [DOI: 10.1002/ijch.201400187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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45
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Deans RM, Chandrashaker V, Taniguchi M, Lindsey JS. Complexity in structure-directed prebiotic chemistry. Effect of a defective competing reactant in tetrapyrrole formation. NEW J CHEM 2015. [DOI: 10.1039/c5nj01474c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
A reactive but defective pyrrole, derived from the simple β-diketone acetylacetone, terminates chain-growth in a quantitative combinatorial manner in tetrapyrrole formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard M. Deans
- Department of Chemistry
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
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46
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Braakman R, Smith E. Metabolic evolution of a deep-branching hyperthermophilic chemoautotrophic bacterium. PLoS One 2014; 9:e87950. [PMID: 24516572 PMCID: PMC3917532 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2013] [Accepted: 01/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Aquifex aeolicus is a deep-branching hyperthermophilic chemoautotrophic bacterium restricted to hydrothermal vents and hot springs. These characteristics make it an excellent model system for studying the early evolution of metabolism. Here we present the whole-genome metabolic network of this organism and examine in detail the driving forces that have shaped it. We make extensive use of phylometabolic analysis, a method we recently introduced that generates trees of metabolic phenotypes by integrating phylogenetic and metabolic constraints. We reconstruct the evolution of a range of metabolic sub-systems, including the reductive citric acid (rTCA) cycle, as well as the biosynthesis and functional roles of several amino acids and cofactors. We show that A. aeolicus uses the reconstructed ancestral pathways within many of these sub-systems, and highlight how the evolutionary interconnections between sub-systems facilitated several key innovations. Our analyses further highlight three general classes of driving forces in metabolic evolution. One is the duplication and divergence of genes for enzymes as these progress from lower to higher substrate specificity, improving the kinetics of certain sub-systems. A second is the kinetic optimization of established pathways through fusion of enzymes, or their organization into larger complexes. The third is the minimization of the ATP unit cost to synthesize biomass, improving thermodynamic efficiency. Quantifying the distribution of these classes of innovations across metabolic sub-systems and across the tree of life will allow us to assess how a tradeoff between maximizing growth rate and growth efficiency has shaped the long-term metabolic evolution of the biosphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rogier Braakman
- Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Eric Smith
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America
- Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, United States of America
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47
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Porcar M, Peretó J. Strategies for Making Life. Synth Biol (Oxf) 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-9382-7_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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48
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Bai X, Liu Z, Ye K, Wang Y, Zhang X, Yue H, Tian G, Feng S. The oxidation of the alpha-carbon of amines in hydrothermal condition: an alternative synthetic route of compounds containing amide bond. Tetrahedron Lett 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2013.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Pascal R, Pross A, Sutherland JD. Towards an evolutionary theory of the origin of life based on kinetics and thermodynamics. Open Biol 2013; 3:130156. [PMID: 24196781 PMCID: PMC3843823 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.130156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
A sudden transition in a system from an inanimate state to the living state—defined on the basis of present day living organisms—would constitute a highly unlikely event hardly predictable from physical laws. From this uncontroversial idea, a self-consistent representation of the origin of life process is built up, which is based on the possibility of a series of intermediate stages. This approach requires a particular kind of stability for these stages—dynamic kinetic stability (DKS)—which is not usually observed in regular chemistry, and which is reflected in the persistence of entities capable of self-reproduction. The necessary connection of this kinetic behaviour with far-from-equilibrium thermodynamic conditions is emphasized and this leads to an evolutionary view for the origin of life in which multiplying entities must be associated with the dissipation of free energy. Any kind of entity involved in this process has to pay the energetic cost of irreversibility, but, by doing so, the contingent emergence of new functions is made feasible. The consequences of these views on the studies of processes by which life can emerge are inferred.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Pascal
- Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron UMR5247, CNRS-Universités Montpellier 1 and Montpellier 2, CC17006, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France
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Ruiz-Mirazo K, Briones C, de la Escosura A. Prebiotic Systems Chemistry: New Perspectives for the Origins of Life. Chem Rev 2013; 114:285-366. [DOI: 10.1021/cr2004844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 563] [Impact Index Per Article: 51.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
- Biophysics
Unit (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Leioa, and Department of Logic and Philosophy
of Science, University of the Basque Country, Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20080 Donostia−San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Carlos Briones
- Department
of Molecular Evolution, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC−INTA, associated to the NASA Astrobiology Institute), Carretera de Ajalvir, Km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Andrés de la Escosura
- Organic
Chemistry Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
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