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Kalapos MP, de Bari L. The evolutionary arch of bioenergetics from prebiotic mechanisms to the emergence of a cellular respiratory chain. Biosystems 2024; 244:105288. [PMID: 39128646 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2024] [Revised: 08/07/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024]
Abstract
This article proposes an evolutionary trajectory for the development of biological energy producing systems. Six main stages of energy producing system evolution are described, from early evolutionary pyrite-pulled mechanism through the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) to contemporary systems. We define the Last Pure Chemical Entity (LPCE) as the last completely non-enzymatic entity. LPCE could have had some life-like properties, but lacked genetic information carriers, thus showed greater instability and environmental dependence than LUCA. A double bubble model is proposed for compartmentalization and cellularization as a prerequisite to both highly efficient protein synthesis and transmembrane ion-gradient. The article finds that although LUCA predominantly functioned anaerobically, it was a non-exclusive anaerobe, and sulfur dominated metabolism preceded phosphate dominated one.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lidia de Bari
- Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, Bari, Italy
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2
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Nitschke W, Farr O, Gaudu N, Truong C, Guyot F, Russell MJ, Duval S. The Winding Road from Origin to Emergence (of Life). Life (Basel) 2024; 14:607. [PMID: 38792628 PMCID: PMC11123232 DOI: 10.3390/life14050607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Humanity's strive to understand why and how life appeared on planet Earth dates back to prehistoric times. At the beginning of the 19th century, empirical biology started to tackle this question yielding both Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and the paradigm that the crucial trigger putting life on its tracks was the appearance of organic molecules. In parallel to these developments in the biological sciences, physics and physical chemistry saw the fundamental laws of thermodynamics being unraveled. Towards the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century, the tensions between thermodynamics and the "organic-molecules-paradigm" became increasingly difficult to ignore, culminating in Erwin Schrödinger's 1944 formulation of a thermodynamics-compliant vision of life and, consequently, the prerequisites for its appearance. We will first review the major milestones over the last 200 years in the biological and the physical sciences, relevant to making sense of life and its origins and then discuss the more recent reappraisal of the relative importance of metal ions vs. organic molecules in performing the essential processes of a living cell. Based on this reassessment and the modern understanding of biological free energy conversion (aka bioenergetics), we consider that scenarios wherein life emerges from an abiotic chemiosmotic process are both thermodynamics-compliant and the most parsimonious proposed so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Nitschke
- BIP (UMR 7281), CNRS, Aix-Marseille-University, 13009 Marseille, France; (O.F.); (N.G.); (C.T.); (S.D.)
| | - Orion Farr
- BIP (UMR 7281), CNRS, Aix-Marseille-University, 13009 Marseille, France; (O.F.); (N.G.); (C.T.); (S.D.)
- CINaM, CNRS, Aix-Marseille-University, 13009 Marseille, France
| | - Nil Gaudu
- BIP (UMR 7281), CNRS, Aix-Marseille-University, 13009 Marseille, France; (O.F.); (N.G.); (C.T.); (S.D.)
| | - Chloé Truong
- BIP (UMR 7281), CNRS, Aix-Marseille-University, 13009 Marseille, France; (O.F.); (N.G.); (C.T.); (S.D.)
| | - François Guyot
- IMPMC (UMR 7590), CNRS, Sorbonne University, 75005 Paris, France;
| | - Michael J. Russell
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy;
| | - Simon Duval
- BIP (UMR 7281), CNRS, Aix-Marseille-University, 13009 Marseille, France; (O.F.); (N.G.); (C.T.); (S.D.)
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3
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McGuinness KN, Fehon N, Feehan R, Miller M, Mutter AC, Rybak LA, Nam J, AbuSalim JE, Atkinson JT, Heidari H, Losada N, Kim JD, Koder RL, Lu Y, Silberg JJ, Slusky JSG, Falkowski PG, Nanda V. The energetics and evolution of oxidoreductases in deep time. Proteins 2024; 92:52-59. [PMID: 37596815 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26563] [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: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
The core metabolic reactions of life drive electrons through a class of redox protein enzymes, the oxidoreductases. The energetics of electron flow is determined by the redox potentials of organic and inorganic cofactors as tuned by the protein environment. Understanding how protein structure affects oxidation-reduction energetics is crucial for studying metabolism, creating bioelectronic systems, and tracing the history of biological energy utilization on Earth. We constructed ProtReDox (https://protein-redox-potential.web.app), a manually curated database of experimentally determined redox potentials. With over 500 measurements, we can begin to identify how proteins modulate oxidation-reduction energetics across the tree of life. By mapping redox potentials onto networks of oxidoreductase fold evolution, we can infer the evolution of electron transfer energetics over deep time. ProtReDox is designed to include user-contributed submissions with the intention of making it a valuable resource for researchers in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth N McGuinness
- Department of Natural Sciences, Caldwell University, Caldwell, New Jersey, USA
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Nolan Fehon
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Ryan Feehan
- Computational Biology Program, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
| | - Michelle Miller
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Andrew C Mutter
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Laryssa A Rybak
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Justin Nam
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jenna E AbuSalim
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Joshua T Atkinson
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Hirbod Heidari
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Natalie Losada
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - J Dongun Kim
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Ronald L Koder
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Jonathan J Silberg
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Joanna S G Slusky
- Computational Biology Program, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
| | - Paul G Falkowski
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Vikas Nanda
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
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4
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Hellmold N, Eberwein M, Phan MHT, Kümmel S, Einsle O, Deobald D, Adrian L. Dehalococcoides mccartyi strain CBDB1 takes up protons from the cytoplasm to reductively dehalogenate organohalides indicating a new modus of proton motive force generation. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1305108. [PMID: 38192294 PMCID: PMC10772276 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1305108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Proton translocation across the cytoplasmic membrane is a vital process for all organisms. Dehalococcoides strains are strictly anaerobic organohalide respiring bacteria that lack quinones and cytochromes but express a large membrane-bound protein complex (OHR complex) proposed to generate a proton gradient. However, its functioning is unclear. By using a dehalogenase-based enzyme activity assay with deuterium-labelled water in various experimental designs, we obtained evidence that the halogen atom of the halogenated electron acceptor is substituted with a proton from the cytoplasm. This suggests that the protein complex couples exergonic electron flux through the periplasmic subunits of the OHR complex to the endergonic transport of protons from the cytoplasm across the cytoplasmic membrane against the proton gradient to the halogenated electron acceptor. Using computational tools, we located two proton-conducting half-channels in the AlphaFold2-predicted structure of the OmeB subunit of the OHR complex, converging in a highly conserved arginine residue that could play a proton gatekeeper role. The cytoplasmic proton half-channel in OmeB is connected to a putative proton-conducting path within the reductive dehalogenase subunit. Our results indicate that the reductive dehalogenase and its halogenated substrate serve as both electron and proton acceptors, providing insights into the proton translocation mechanism within the OHR complex and contributing to a better understanding of energy conservation in D. mccartyi strains. Our results reveal a very simple mode of energy conservation in anaerobic bacteria, showing that proton translocation coupled to periplasmic electron flow might have importance also in other microbial processes and biotechnological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine Hellmold
- Department Environmental Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marie Eberwein
- Department Environmental Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - My Hanh Thi Phan
- Institute of Biotechnology, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Steffen Kümmel
- Department Isotope Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Oliver Einsle
- Institute of Biochemistry, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Darja Deobald
- Department Environmental Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lorenz Adrian
- Department Environmental Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biotechnology, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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5
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Magalon A. History of Maturation of Prokaryotic Molybdoenzymes-A Personal View. Molecules 2023; 28:7195. [PMID: 37894674 PMCID: PMC10609526 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28207195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In prokaryotes, the role of Mo/W enzymes in physiology and bioenergetics is widely recognized. It is worth noting that the most diverse family of Mo/W enzymes is exclusive to prokaryotes, with the probable existence of several of them from the earliest forms of life on Earth. The structural organization of these enzymes, which often include additional redox centers, is as diverse as ever, as is their cellular localization. The most notable observation is the involvement of dedicated chaperones assisting with the assembly and acquisition of the metal centers, including Mo/W-bisPGD, one of the largest organic cofactors in nature. This review seeks to provide a new understanding and a unified model of Mo/W enzyme maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Axel Magalon
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne (UMR7283), IMM, IM2B, 13402 Marseille, France
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6
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Neukirchen S, Pereira IAC, Sousa FL. Stepwise pathway for early evolutionary assembly of dissimilatory sulfite and sulfate reduction. THE ISME JOURNAL 2023; 17:1680-1692. [PMID: 37468676 PMCID: PMC10504309 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-023-01477-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
Microbial dissimilatory sulfur metabolism utilizing dissimilatory sulfite reductases (Dsr) influenced the biochemical sulfur cycle during Earth's history and the Dsr pathway is thought to be an ancient metabolic process. Here we performed comparative genomics, phylogenetic, and synteny analyses of several Dsr proteins involved in or associated with the Dsr pathway across over 195,000 prokaryotic metagenomes. The results point to an archaeal origin of the minimal DsrABCMK(N) protein set, having as primordial function sulfite reduction. The acquisition of additional Dsr proteins (DsrJOPT) increased the Dsr pathway complexity. Archaeoglobus would originally possess the archaeal-type Dsr pathway and the archaeal DsrAB proteins were replaced with the bacterial reductive-type version, possibly at the same time as the acquisition of the QmoABC and DsrD proteins. Further inventions of two Qmo complex types, which are more spread than previously thought, allowed microorganisms to use sulfate as electron acceptor. The ability to use the Dsr pathway for sulfur oxidation evolved at least twice, with Chlorobi and Proteobacteria being extant descendants of these two independent adaptations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sinje Neukirchen
- Genome Evolution and Ecology Group, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Inês A C Pereira
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Filipa L Sousa
- Genome Evolution and Ecology Group, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria.
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7
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Goldman AD, Weber JM, LaRowe DE, Barge LM. Electron transport chains as a window into the earliest stages of evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2210924120. [PMID: 37579147 PMCID: PMC10451490 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2210924120] [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] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The origin and early evolution of life is generally studied under two different paradigms: bottom up and top down. Prebiotic chemistry and early Earth geochemistry allow researchers to explore possible origin of life scenarios. But for these "bottom-up" approaches, even successful experiments only amount to a proof of principle. On the other hand, "top-down" research on early evolutionary history is able to provide a historical account about ancient organisms, but is unable to investigate stages that occurred during and just after the origin of life. Here, we consider ancient electron transport chains (ETCs) as a potential bridge between early evolutionary history and a protocellular stage that preceded it. Current phylogenetic evidence suggests that ancestors of several extant ETC components were present at least as late as the last universal common ancestor of life. In addition, recent experiments have shown that some aspects of modern ETCs can be replicated by minerals, protocells, or organic cofactors in the absence of biological proteins. Here, we discuss the diversity of ETCs and other forms of chemiosmotic energy conservation, describe current work on the early evolution of membrane bioenergetics, and advocate for several lines of research to enhance this understanding by pairing top-down and bottom-up approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron D. Goldman
- Department of Biology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH44074
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA98154
| | - Jessica M. Weber
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA91109
| | - Douglas E. LaRowe
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA90089
| | - Laura M. Barge
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA98154
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA91109
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8
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Wells M, Kim M, Akob DM, Basu P, Stolz JF. Impact of the Dimethyl Sulfoxide Reductase Superfamily on the Evolution of Biogeochemical Cycles. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0414522. [PMID: 36951557 PMCID: PMC10100899 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.04145-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The dimethyl sulfoxide reductase (or MopB) family is a diverse assemblage of enzymes found throughout Bacteria and Archaea. Many of these enzymes are believed to have been present in the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all cellular lineages. However, gaps in knowledge remain about how MopB enzymes evolved and how this diversification of functions impacted global biogeochemical cycles through geologic time. In this study, we perform maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses on manually curated comparative genomic and metagenomic data sets containing over 47,000 distinct MopB homologs. We demonstrate that these enzymes constitute a catalytically and mechanistically diverse superfamily defined not by the molybdopterin- or tungstopterin-containing [molybdopterin or tungstopterin bis(pyranopterin guanine dinucleotide) (Mo/W-bisPGD)] cofactor but rather by the structural fold that binds it in the protein. Our results suggest that major metabolic innovations were the result of the loss of the metal cofactor or the gain or loss of protein domains. Phylogenetic analyses also demonstrated that formate oxidation and CO2 reduction were the ancestral functions of the superfamily, traits that have been vertically inherited from the LUCA. Nearly all of the other families, which drive all other biogeochemical cycles mediated by this superfamily, originated in the bacterial domain. Thus, organisms from Bacteria have been the key drivers of catalytic and biogeochemical innovations within the superfamily. The relative ordination of MopB families and their associated catalytic activities emphasize fundamental mechanisms of evolution in this superfamily. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of prokaryotic adaptability in response to the transition from an anoxic to an oxidized atmosphere. IMPORTANCE The MopB superfamily constitutes a repertoire of metalloenzymes that are central to enduring mysteries in microbiology, from the origin of life and how microorganisms and biogeochemical cycles have coevolved over deep time to how anaerobic life adapted to increasing concentrations of O2 during the transition from an anoxic to an oxic world. Our work emphasizes that phylogenetic analyses can reveal how domain gain or loss events, the acquisition of novel partner subunits, and the loss of metal cofactors can stimulate novel radiations of enzymes that dramatically increase the catalytic versatility of superfamilies. We also contend that the superfamily concept in protein evolution can uncover surprising kinships between enzymes that have remarkably different catalytic and physiological functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Wells
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Minjae Kim
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Denise M. Akob
- United States Geological Survey, Geology, Energy, and Minerals Science Center, Reston, Virginia, USA
| | - Partha Basu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - John F. Stolz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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9
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Timm J, Pike DH, Mancini JA, Tyryshkin AM, Poudel S, Siess JA, Molinaro PM, McCann JJ, Waldie KM, Koder RL, Falkowski PG, Nanda V. Design of a minimal di-nickel hydrogenase peptide. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eabq1990. [PMID: 36897954 PMCID: PMC10005181 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq1990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Ancestral metabolic processes involve the reversible oxidation of molecular hydrogen by hydrogenase. Extant hydrogenase enzymes are complex, comprising hundreds of amino acids and multiple cofactors. We designed a 13-amino acid nickel-binding peptide capable of robustly producing molecular hydrogen from protons under a wide variety of conditions. The peptide forms a di-nickel cluster structurally analogous to a Ni-Fe cluster in [NiFe] hydrogenase and the Ni-Ni cluster in acetyl-CoA synthase, two ancient, extant proteins central to metabolism. These experimental results demonstrate that modern enzymes, despite their enormous complexity, likely evolved from simple peptide precursors on early Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Timm
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Douglas H. Pike
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Joshua A. Mancini
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Alexei M. Tyryshkin
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Saroj Poudel
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Jan A. Siess
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Paul M. Molinaro
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - James J. McCann
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Kate M. Waldie
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Ronald L. Koder
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Paul G. Falkowski
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
| | - Vikas Nanda
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
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10
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Aithal A, Dagar S, Rajamani S. Metals in Prebiotic Catalysis: A Possible Evolutionary Pathway for the Emergence of Metalloproteins. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:5197-5208. [PMID: 36816708 PMCID: PMC9933472 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c07635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Proteinaceous catalysts found in extant biology are products of life that were potentially derived through prolonged periods of evolution. Given their complexity, it is reasonable to assume that they were not accessible to prebiotic chemistry as such. Nevertheless, the dependence of many enzymes on metal ions or metal-ligand cores suggests that catalysis relevant to biology could also be possible with just the metal centers. Given their availability on the Hadean/Archean Earth, it is fair to conjecture that metal ions could have constituted the first forms of catalysts. A slow increase of complexity that was facilitated through the provision of organic ligands and amino acids/peptides possibly allowed for further evolution and diversification, eventually demarcating them into specific functions. Herein, we summarize some key experimental developments and observations that support the possible roles of metal catalysts in shaping the origins of life. Further, we also discuss how they could have evolved into modern-day enzymes, with some suggestions for what could be the imminent next steps that researchers can pursue, to delineate the putative sequence of catalyst evolution during the early stages of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anuraag Aithal
- Department
of Biology, Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research, Pune, Maharashtra 411008, India
| | - Shikha Dagar
- Department
of Biology, Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research, Pune, Maharashtra 411008, India
| | - Sudha Rajamani
- Department
of Biology, Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research, Pune, Maharashtra 411008, India
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11
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Glass JB, Elbon CE, Williams LD. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue: the anaerobic microbial ancestry of aerobic respiration. Trends Microbiol 2023; 31:135-141. [PMID: 36058785 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2022.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 08/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Aerobic respiration evolved by bricolage, with modules cobbled together as microbial biochemistry coevolved with Earth's geochemistry. The mitochondrial electron transport chain represents a patchwork of respiratory modules inherited from microbial methanogenesis, iron oxidation, anoxygenic photosynthesis, and denitrification pathways, and preserves a biochemical record of Earth's redox environment over its four-billion-year history. Imprints of the anoxic early Earth are recognizable in Complex I's numerous iron-sulfur cofactors and vestigial binding sites for ferredoxin, nickel-iron, and molybdopterin, whereas the more recent advent of oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor necessitated use of heme and copper cofactors by Complex IV. Bricolage of respiratory complexes resulted in supercomplexes for improved electron transfer efficiency in some bacteria and archaea, and in many eukaryotes. Accessory subunits evolved to wrap mitochondrial supercomplexes for improved assembly and stability. Environmental microbes with 'fossil' proteins that are similar to ancestral forms of the respiratory complexes deserve further scrutiny and may reveal new insights on the evolution of aerobic respiration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer B Glass
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Claire E Elbon
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Loren Dean Williams
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
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12
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Spark of Life: Role of Electrotrophy in the Emergence of Life. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:life13020356. [PMID: 36836714 PMCID: PMC9961546 DOI: 10.3390/life13020356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of life has been a subject of intensive research for decades. Different approaches and different environmental "cradles" have been studied, from space to the deep sea. Since the recent discovery of a natural electrical current through deep-sea hydrothermal vents, a new energy source is considered for the transition from inorganic to organic. This energy source (electron donor) is used by modern microorganisms via a new trophic type, called electrotrophy. In this review, we draw a parallel between this metabolism and a new theory for the emergence of life based on this electrical electron flow. Each step of the creation of life is revised in the new light of this prebiotic electrochemical context, going from the evaluation of similar electrical current during the Hadean, the CO2 electroreduction into a prebiotic primordial soup, the production of proto-membranes, the energetic system inspired of the nitrate reduction, the proton gradient, and the transition to a planktonic proto-cell. Finally, this theory is compared to the two other theories in hydrothermal context to assess its relevance and overcome the limitations of each. Many critical factors that were limiting each theory can be overcome given the effect of electrochemical reactions and the environmental changes produced.
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13
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Römling U. Is biofilm formation intrinsic to the origin of life? Environ Microbiol 2023; 25:26-39. [PMID: 36655713 PMCID: PMC10086821 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Biofilms are multicellular, often surface-associated, communities of autonomous cells. Their formation is the natural mode of growth of up to 80% of microorganisms living on this planet. Biofilms refractory towards antimicrobial agents and the actions of the immune system due to their tolerance against multiple environmental stresses. But how did biofilm formation arise? Here, I argue that the biofilm lifestyle has its foundation already in the fundamental, surface-triggered chemical reactions and energy preserving mechanisms that enabled the development of life on earth. Subsequently, prototypical biofilm formation has evolved and diversified concomitantly in composition, cell morphology and regulation with the expansion of prokaryotic organisms and their radiation by occupation of diverse ecological niches. This ancient origin of biofilm formation thus mirrors the harnessing environmental conditions that have been the rule rather than the exception in microbial life. The subsequent emergence of the association of microbes, including recent human pathogens, with higher organisms can be considered as the entry into a nutritional and largely stress-protecting heaven. Nevertheless, basic mechanisms of biofilm formation have surprisingly been conserved and refunctionalized to promote sustained survival in new environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ute Römling
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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14
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Karavaeva V, Sousa FL. Modular structure of complex II: An evolutionary perspective. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. BIOENERGETICS 2023; 1864:148916. [PMID: 36084748 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2022.148916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Succinate dehydrogenases (SDHs) and fumarate reductases (FRDs) catalyse the interconversion of succinate and fumarate, a reaction highly conserved in all domains of life. The current classification of SDH/FRDs is based on the structure of the membrane anchor subunits and their cofactors. It is, however, unknown whether this classification would hold in the context of evolution. In this work, a large-scale comparative genomic analysis of complex II addresses the questions of its taxonomic distribution and phylogeny. Our findings report that for types C, D, and F, structural classification and phylogeny go hand in hand, while for types A, B and E the situation is more complex, highlighting the possibility for their classification into subgroups. Based on these findings, we proposed a revised version of the evolutionary scenario for these enzymes in which a primordial soluble module, corresponding to the cytoplasmatic subunits, would give rise to the current diversity via several independent membrane anchor attachment events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Val Karavaeva
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Wien, Austria
| | - Filipa L Sousa
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Wien, Austria.
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15
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Ou YF, Dong HP, McIlroy SJ, Crowe SA, Hallam SJ, Han P, Kallmeyer J, Simister RL, Vuillemin A, Leu AO, Liu Z, Zheng YL, Sun QL, Liu M, Tyson GW, Hou LJ. Expanding the phylogenetic distribution of cytochrome b-containing methanogenic archaea sheds light on the evolution of methanogenesis. THE ISME JOURNAL 2022; 16:2373-2387. [PMID: 35810262 PMCID: PMC9478090 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01281-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Methane produced by methanogenic archaea has an important influence on Earth's changing climate. Methanogenic archaea are phylogenetically diverse and widespread in anoxic environments. These microorganisms can be divided into two subgroups based on whether or not they use b-type cytochromes for energy conservation. Methanogens with b-type cytochromes have a wider substrate range and higher growth yields than those without them. To date, methanogens with b-type cytochromes were found exclusively in the phylum "Ca. Halobacteriota" (formerly part of the phylum Euryarchaeota). Here, we present the discovery of metagenome-assembled genomes harboring methyl-coenzyme M reductase genes reconstructed from mesophilic anoxic sediments, together with the previously reported thermophilic "Ca. Methylarchaeum tengchongensis", representing a novel archaeal order, designated the "Ca. Methylarchaeales", of the phylum Thermoproteota (formerly the TACK superphylum). These microorganisms contain genes required for methyl-reducing methanogenesis and the Wood-Ljundahl pathway. Importantly, the genus "Ca. Methanotowutia" of the "Ca. Methylarchaeales" encode a cytochrome b-containing heterodisulfide reductase (HdrDE) and methanophenazine-reducing hydrogenase complex that have similar gene arrangements to those found in methanogenic Methanosarcinales. Our results indicate that members of the "Ca. Methylarchaeales" are methanogens with cytochromes and can conserve energy via membrane-bound electron transport chains. Phylogenetic and amalgamated likelihood estimation analyses indicate that methanogens with cytochrome b-containing electron transfer complexes likely evolved before diversification of Thermoproteota or "Ca. Halobacteriota" in the early Archean Eon. Surveys of public sequence databases suggest that members of the lineage are globally distributed in anoxic sediments and may be important players in the methane cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Fei Ou
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Hong-Po Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
| | - Simon J McIlroy
- Centre for Microbiome Research, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Sean A Crowe
- Ecosystem Services, Commercialization Platforms, and Entrepreneurship (ECOSCOPE) Training Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Steven J Hallam
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Ping Han
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Jens Kallmeyer
- GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section Geomicrobiology, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Rachel L Simister
- Ecosystem Services, Commercialization Platforms, and Entrepreneurship (ECOSCOPE) Training Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Aurele Vuillemin
- GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section Geomicrobiology, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Andy O Leu
- Centre for Microbiome Research, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Zhanfei Liu
- Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, 78373, USA
| | - Yan-Ling Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Qian-Li Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Gene W Tyson
- Centre for Microbiome Research, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Li-Jun Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
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16
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Nitschke W, Schoepp‐Cothenet B, Duval S, Zuchan K, Farr O, Baymann F, Panico F, Minguzzi A, Branscomb E, Russell MJ. Aqueous electrochemistry: The toolbox for life's emergence from redox disequilibria. ELECTROCHEMICAL SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/elsa.202100192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Simon Duval
- CNRS, BIP (UMR 7281), Aix Marseille Univ Marseille France
| | - Kilian Zuchan
- CNRS, BIP (UMR 7281), Aix Marseille Univ Marseille France
| | - Orion Farr
- CNRS, BIP (UMR 7281), Aix Marseille Univ Marseille France
- Aix Marseille Univ CINaM (UMR 7325) Luminy France
| | - Frauke Baymann
- CNRS, BIP (UMR 7281), Aix Marseille Univ Marseille France
| | - Francesco Panico
- Dipartimento di Chimica Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
| | | | - Elbert Branscomb
- Department of Physics Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana Illinois USA
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17
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Huang XL. What are the inorganic nanozymes? Artificial or inorganic enzymes! NEW J CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d2nj02088b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The research on inorganic nanozymes remains very active since the first paper on the “intrinsic peroxidase-like properties of ferromagnetic nanoparticles” was published in Nature Nanotechnology in 2007. However, there is...
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18
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Weber JM, Henderson BL, LaRowe DE, Goldman AD, Perl SM, Billings K, Barge LM. Testing Abiotic Reduction of NAD + Directly Mediated by Iron/Sulfur Minerals. ASTROBIOLOGY 2022; 22:25-34. [PMID: 34591607 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2021.0035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Life emerged in a geochemical context, possibly in the midst of mineral substrates. However, it is not known to what extent minerals and dissolved inorganic ions could have facilitated the evolution of biochemical reactions. Herein, we have experimentally shown that iron sulfide minerals can act as electron transfer agents for the reduction of the ubiquitous biological protein cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) under anaerobic prebiotic conditions, observing the NAD+/NADH redox transition by using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance. This reaction was mediated with iron sulfide minerals, which were likely abundant on early Earth in seafloor and hydrothermal settings; and the NAD+/NADH redox reaction occurred in the absence of UV light, peptide ligand(s), or dissolved mediators. To better understand this reaction, thermodynamic modeling was also performed. The ability of an iron sulfide mineral to transfer electrons to a biochemical cofactor that is found in every living cell demonstrates how geologic materials could have played a direct role in the evolution of certain cofactor-driven metabolic pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica M Weber
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Bryana L Henderson
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Douglas E LaRowe
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Aaron D Goldman
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, USA
| | - Scott M Perl
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Keith Billings
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Laura M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
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19
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Modularity of membrane-bound charge-translocating protein complexes. Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 49:2669-2685. [PMID: 34854900 DOI: 10.1042/bst20210462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Energy transduction is the conversion of one form of energy into another; this makes life possible as we know it. Organisms have developed different systems for acquiring energy and storing it in useable forms: the so-called energy currencies. A universal energy currency is the transmembrane difference of electrochemical potential (Δμ~). This results from the translocation of charges across a membrane, powered by exergonic reactions. Different reactions may be coupled to charge-translocation and, in the majority of cases, these reactions are catalyzed by modular enzymes that always include a transmembrane subunit. The modular arrangement of these enzymes allows for different catalytic and charge-translocating modules to be combined. Thus, a transmembrane charge-translocating module can be associated with different catalytic subunits to form an energy-transducing complex. Likewise, the same catalytic subunit may be combined with a different membrane charge-translocating module. In this work, we analyze the modular arrangement of energy-transducing membrane complexes and discuss their different combinations, focusing on the charge-translocating module.
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20
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Smith HH, Hyde AS, Simkus DN, Libby E, Maurer SE, Graham HV, Kempes CP, Sherwood Lollar B, Chou L, Ellington AD, Fricke GM, Girguis PR, Grefenstette NM, Pozarycki CI, House CH, Johnson SS. The Grayness of the Origin of Life. Life (Basel) 2021; 11:498. [PMID: 34072344 PMCID: PMC8226951 DOI: 10.3390/life11060498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Revised: 05/22/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
In the search for life beyond Earth, distinguishing the living from the non-living is paramount. However, this distinction is often elusive, as the origin of life is likely a stepwise evolutionary process, not a singular event. Regardless of the favored origin of life model, an inherent "grayness" blurs the theorized threshold defining life. Here, we explore the ambiguities between the biotic and the abiotic at the origin of life. The role of grayness extends into later transitions as well. By recognizing the limitations posed by grayness, life detection researchers will be better able to develop methods sensitive to prebiotic chemical systems and life with alternative biochemistries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hillary H. Smith
- Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;
- Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Andrew S. Hyde
- Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;
- Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Danielle N. Simkus
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; (D.N.S.); (H.V.G.); (L.C.); (C.I.P.)
- NASA Postdoctoral Program, USRA, Columbia, MD 20146, USA
- Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA
| | - Eric Libby
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA; (E.L.); (C.P.K.); (N.M.G.)
- Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden
- Icelab, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Sarah E. Maurer
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 06050, USA;
| | - Heather V. Graham
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; (D.N.S.); (H.V.G.); (L.C.); (C.I.P.)
- Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA
| | | | | | - Luoth Chou
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; (D.N.S.); (H.V.G.); (L.C.); (C.I.P.)
- NASA Postdoctoral Program, USRA, Columbia, MD 20146, USA
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA
| | - Andrew D. Ellington
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA;
- Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - G. Matthew Fricke
- Department of Computer Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87108, USA;
| | - Peter R. Girguis
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;
| | - Natalie M. Grefenstette
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA; (E.L.); (C.P.K.); (N.M.G.)
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - Chad I. Pozarycki
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; (D.N.S.); (H.V.G.); (L.C.); (C.I.P.)
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA
| | - Christopher H. House
- Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;
- Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Sarah Stewart Johnson
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA
- Science, Technology and International Affairs Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA
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21
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Duarte AG, Barbosa ACC, Ferreira D, Manteigas G, Domingos RM, Pereira IAC. Redox loops in anaerobic respiration - The role of the widespread NrfD protein family and associated dimeric redox module. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2021; 1862:148416. [PMID: 33753023 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2021.148416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2020] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
In prokaryotes, the proton or sodium motive force required for ATP synthesis is produced by respiratory complexes that present an ion-pumping mechanism or are involved in redox loops performed by membrane proteins that usually have substrate and quinone-binding sites on opposite sides of the membrane. Some respiratory complexes include a dimeric redox module composed of a quinone-interacting membrane protein of the NrfD family and an iron‑sulfur protein of the NrfC family. The QrcABCD complex of sulfate reducers, which includes the QrcCD module homologous to NrfCD, was recently shown to perform electrogenic quinone reduction providing the first conclusive evidence for energy conservation among this family. Similar redox modules are present in multiple respiratory complexes, which can be associated with electroneutral, energy-driven or electrogenic reactions. This work discusses the presence of the NrfCD/PsrBC dimeric redox module in different bioenergetics contexts and its role in prokaryotic energy conservation mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Américo G Duarte
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, Estação Agronómica Nacional, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal.
| | - Ana C C Barbosa
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, Estação Agronómica Nacional, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Delfim Ferreira
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, Estação Agronómica Nacional, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Gonçalo Manteigas
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, Estação Agronómica Nacional, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Renato M Domingos
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, Estação Agronómica Nacional, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Inês A C Pereira
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, Estação Agronómica Nacional, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal.
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22
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Zuchan K, Baymann F, Baffert C, Brugna M, Nitschke W. The dyad of the Y-junction- and a flavin module unites diverse redox enzymes. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2021; 1862:148401. [PMID: 33684340 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2021.148401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The concomitant presence of two distinctive polypeptide modules, which we have chosen to denominate as the "Y-junction" and the "flavin" module, is observed in 3D structures of enzymes as functionally diverse as complex I, NAD(P)-dependent [NiFe]-hydrogenases and NAD(P)-dependent formate dehydrogenases. Amino acid sequence conservation furthermore suggests that both modules are also part of NAD(P)-dependent [FeFe]-hydrogenases for which no 3D structure model is available yet. The flavin module harbours the site of interaction with the substrate NAD(P) which exchanges two electrons with a strictly conserved flavin moiety. The Y-junction module typically contains four iron-sulphur centres arranged to form a Y-shaped electron transfer conduit and mediates electron transfer between the flavin module and the catalytic units of the respective enzymes. The Y-junction module represents an electron transfer hub with three potential electron entry/exit sites. The pattern of specific redox centres present both in the Y-junction and the flavin module is correlated to present knowledge of these enzymes' functional properties. We have searched publicly accessible genomes for gene clusters containing both the Y-junction and the flavin module to assemble a comprehensive picture of the diversity of enzymes harbouring this dyad of modules and to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. These analyses indicate the presence of the dyad already in the last universal common ancestor and the emergence of complex I's EFG-module out of a subgroup of NAD(P)- dependent formate dehydrogenases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kilian Zuchan
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, BIP, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France
| | - Frauke Baymann
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, BIP, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France
| | - Carole Baffert
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, BIP, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France
| | - Myriam Brugna
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, BIP, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France.
| | - Wolfgang Nitschke
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, BIP, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France
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23
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Calisto F, Sousa FM, Sena FV, Refojo PN, Pereira MM. Mechanisms of Energy Transduction by Charge Translocating Membrane Proteins. Chem Rev 2021; 121:1804-1844. [PMID: 33398986 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Life relies on the constant exchange of different forms of energy, i.e., on energy transduction. Therefore, organisms have evolved in a way to be able to harvest the energy made available by external sources (such as light or chemical compounds) and convert these into biological useable energy forms, such as the transmembrane difference of electrochemical potential (Δμ̃). Membrane proteins contribute to the establishment of Δμ̃ by coupling exergonic catalytic reactions to the translocation of charges (electrons/ions) across the membrane. Irrespectively of the energy source and consequent type of reaction, all charge-translocating proteins follow two molecular coupling mechanisms: direct- or indirect-coupling, depending on whether the translocated charge is involved in the driving reaction. In this review, we explore these two coupling mechanisms by thoroughly examining the different types of charge-translocating membrane proteins. For each protein, we analyze the respective reaction thermodynamics, electron transfer/catalytic processes, charge-translocating pathways, and ion/substrate stoichiometries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipa Calisto
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica-António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República EAN, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.,BioISI-Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, University of Lisboa, Faculty of Sciences, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Filipe M Sousa
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica-António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República EAN, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.,BioISI-Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, University of Lisboa, Faculty of Sciences, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Filipa V Sena
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica-António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República EAN, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.,BioISI-Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, University of Lisboa, Faculty of Sciences, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Patricia N Refojo
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica-António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República EAN, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Manuela M Pereira
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica-António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República EAN, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.,BioISI-Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, University of Lisboa, Faculty of Sciences, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
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24
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Plant-archaea relationships: a potential means to improve crop production in arid and semi-arid regions. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 36:133. [PMID: 32772189 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-020-02910-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Crop production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world is limited by several abiotic factors, including water stress, temperature extremes, low soil fertility, high soil pH, low soil water-holding capacity, and low soil organic matter. Moreover, arid and semi-arid areas experience low levels of rainfall with high spatial and temporal variability. Also, the indiscriminate use of chemicals, a practice that characterizes current agricultural practice, promotes crop and soil pollution potentially resulting in serious human health and environmental hazards. A reliable and sustainable alternative to current farming practice is, therefore, a necessity. One such option includes the use of plant growth-promoting microbes that can help to ameliorate some of the adverse effects of these multiple stresses. In this regard, archaea, functional components of the plant microbiome that are found both in the rhizosphere and the endosphere may contribute to the promotion of plant growth. Archaea can survive in extreme habitats such as areas with high temperatures and hypersaline water. No cases of archaea pathogenicity towards plants have been reported. Archaea appear to have the potential to promote plant growth, improve nutrient supply and protect plants against various abiotic stresses. A better understanding of recent developments in archaea functional diversity, plant colonizing ability, and modes of action could facilitate their eventual usage as reliable components of sustainable agricultural systems. The research discussed herein, therefore, addresses the potential role of archaea to improve sustainable crop production in arid and semi-arid areas.
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Leimkühler S. The biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactors in Escherichia coli. Environ Microbiol 2020; 22:2007-2026. [PMID: 32239579 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactor (Moco) is highly conserved among all kingdoms of life. In all molybdoenzymes containing Moco, the molybdenum atom is coordinated to a dithiolene group present in the pterin-based 6-alkyl side chain of molybdopterin (MPT). In general, the biosynthesis of Moco can be divided into four steps in in bacteria: (i) the starting point is the formation of the cyclic pyranopterin monophosphate (cPMP) from 5'-GTP, (ii) in the second step the two sulfur atoms are inserted into cPMP leading to the formation of MPT, (iii) in the third step the molybdenum atom is inserted into MPT to form Moco and (iv) in the fourth step bis-Mo-MPT is formed and an additional modification of Moco is possible with the attachment of a nucleotide (CMP or GMP) to the phosphate group of MPT, forming the dinucleotide variants of Moco. This review presents an update on the well-characterized Moco biosynthesis in the model organism Escherichia coli including novel discoveries from the recent years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silke Leimkühler
- Department of Molecular Enzymology, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
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26
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Abstract
Life on Earth is driven by electron transfer reactions catalyzed by a suite of enzymes that comprise the superfamily of oxidoreductases (Enzyme Classification EC1). Most modern oxidoreductases are complex in their structure and chemistry and must have evolved from a small set of ancient folds. Ancient oxidoreductases from the Archean Eon between ca. 3.5 and 2.5 billion years ago have been long extinct, making it challenging to retrace evolution by sequence-based phylogeny or ancestral sequence reconstruction. However, three-dimensional topologies of proteins change more slowly than sequences. Using comparative structure and sequence profile-profile alignments, we quantify the similarity between proximal cofactor-binding folds and show that they are derived from a common ancestor. We discovered that two recurring folds were central to the origin of metabolism: ferredoxin and Rossmann-like folds. In turn, these two folds likely shared a common ancestor that, through duplication, recruitment, and diversification, evolved to facilitate electron transfer and catalysis at a very early stage in the origin of metabolism.
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Niks D, Hille R. Molybdenum- and tungsten-containing formate dehydrogenases and formylmethanofuran dehydrogenases: Structure, mechanism, and cofactor insertion. Protein Sci 2019; 28:111-122. [PMID: 30120799 PMCID: PMC6295890 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Revised: 08/10/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
An overview is provided of the molybdenum- and tungsten-containing enzymes that catalyze the interconversion of formate and CO2 , focusing on common structural and mechanistic themes, as well as a consideration of the manner in which the mature Mo- or W-containing cofactor is inserted into apoprotein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitri Niks
- Department of BiochemistryUniversity of CaliforniaRiverside
| | - Russ Hille
- Department of BiochemistryUniversity of CaliforniaRiverside
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Duarte AG, Catarino T, White GF, Lousa D, Neukirchen S, Soares CM, Sousa FL, Clarke TA, Pereira IAC. An electrogenic redox loop in sulfate reduction reveals a likely widespread mechanism of energy conservation. Nat Commun 2018; 9:5448. [PMID: 30575735 PMCID: PMC6303296 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07839-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The bioenergetics of anaerobic metabolism frequently relies on redox loops performed by membrane complexes with substrate- and quinone-binding sites on opposite sides of the membrane. However, in sulfate respiration (a key process in the biogeochemical sulfur cycle), the substrate- and quinone-binding sites of the QrcABCD complex are periplasmic, and their role in energy conservation has not been elucidated. Here we show that the QrcABCD complex of Desulfovibrio vulgaris is electrogenic, as protons and electrons required for quinone reduction are extracted from opposite sides of the membrane, with a H+/e− ratio of 1. Although the complex does not act as a H+-pump, QrcD may include a conserved proton channel leading from the N-side to the P-side menaquinone pocket. Our work provides evidence of how energy is conserved during dissimilatory sulfate reduction, and suggests mechanisms behind the functions of related bacterial respiratory complexes in other bioenergetic contexts. The bacterial complex QrcABCD plays a key role in the bioenergetics of sulfate respiration. Here, Duarte et al. show that this complex is electrogenic, with protons and electrons required for quinone reduction being extracted from opposite sides of the membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Américo G Duarte
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Teresa Catarino
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.,Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal
| | - Gaye F White
- Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences and School of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Diana Lousa
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Sinje Neukirchen
- Division of Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics, Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14 UZA I, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Cláudio M Soares
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Filipa L Sousa
- Division of Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics, Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14 UZA I, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas A Clarke
- Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences and School of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Inês A C Pereira
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.
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Barge LM, Krause FC, Jones JP, Billings K, Sobron P. Geoelectrodes and Fuel Cells for Simulating Hydrothermal Vent Environments. ASTROBIOLOGY 2018; 18:1147-1158. [PMID: 30106308 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Gradients generated in hydrothermal systems provide a significant source of free energy for chemosynthetic life and may play a role in present-day habitability on ocean worlds. Electron/proton/ion gradients, particularly in the context of hydrothermal chimney structures, may also be relevant to the origins of life on Earth. Hydrothermal vents are similar in some ways to typical fuel cell devices: redox/pH gradients between seawater and hydrothermal fluid are analogous to the fuel cell oxidant and fuel reservoirs; the porous chimney wall is analogous to a separator or ion-exchange membrane and is also a conductive path for electrons; and the hydrothermal minerals are analogous to electrode catalysts. The modular and scalable characteristics of fuel cell systems make for a convenient planetary geology test bed in which geologically relevant components may be assembled and investigated in a controlled simulation environment. We have performed fuel cell experiments and electrochemical studies to better understand the catalytic potential of seafloor minerals and vent chimneys, using samples from a black smoker vent chimney as an initial demonstration. In a fuel cell with Na+-conducting Nafion® membranes and liquid fuel/oxidant reservoirs (simulating the vent environment), the black smoker mineral catalyst in the membrane electrode assembly was effective in reducing O2 and oxidizing sulfide. In a H2/O2 polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell with H+-conducting Nafion membranes, the black smoker catalyst was effective in reducing O2 but not in oxidizing H2. These fuel cell experiments accurately simulated the redox reactions that could occur in a geological setting with this particular catalyst, and also tested whether the minerals are sufficiently active to replace a commercial fuel cell catalyst. Similar experiments with other geocatalysts could be utilized to test which redox reactions could be driven in other hydrothermal systems, including hypothesized vent systems on other worlds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Barge
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Frederick C Krause
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - John-Paul Jones
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Keith Billings
- 1 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Pablo Sobron
- 2 Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute , Mountain View, California
- 3 Impossible Sensing , St. Louis, Missouri
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Russell MJ. Green Rust: The Simple Organizing 'Seed' of All Life? Life (Basel) 2018; 8:E35. [PMID: 30150570 PMCID: PMC6161180 DOI: 10.3390/life8030035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Korenaga and coworkers presented evidence to suggest that the Earth's mantle was dry and water filled the ocean to twice its present volume 4.3 billion years ago. Carbon dioxide was constantly exhaled during the mafic to ultramafic volcanic activity associated with magmatic plumes that produced the thick, dense, and relatively stable oceanic crust. In that setting, two distinct and major types of sub-marine hydrothermal vents were active: ~400 °C acidic springs, whose effluents bore vast quantities of iron into the ocean, and ~120 °C, highly alkaline, and reduced vents exhaling from the cooler, serpentinizing crust some distance from the heads of the plumes. When encountering the alkaline effluents, the iron from the plume head vents precipitated out, forming mounds likely surrounded by voluminous exhalative deposits similar to the banded iron formations known from the Archean. These mounds and the surrounding sediments, comprised micro or nano-crysts of the variable valence FeII/FeIII oxyhydroxide known as green rust. The precipitation of green rust, along with subsidiary iron sulfides and minor concentrations of nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum in the environment at the alkaline springs, may have established both the key bio-syntonic disequilibria and the means to properly make use of them-the elements needed to effect the essential inanimate-to-animate transitions that launched life. Specifically, in the submarine alkaline vent model for the emergence of life, it is first suggested that the redox-flexible green rust micro- and nano-crysts spontaneously precipitated to form barriers to the complete mixing of carbonic ocean and alkaline hydrothermal fluids. These barriers created and maintained steep ionic disequilibria. Second, the hydrous interlayers of green rust acted as engines that were powered by those ionic disequilibria and drove essential endergonic reactions. There, aided by sulfides and trace elements acting as catalytic promoters and electron transfer agents, nitrate could be reduced to ammonia and carbon dioxide to formate, while methane may have been oxidized to methyl and formyl groups. Acetate and higher carboxylic acids could then have been produced from these C1 molecules and aminated to amino acids, and thence oligomerized to offer peptide nests to phosphate and iron sulfides, and secreted to form primitive amyloid-bounded structures, leading conceivably to protocells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Russell
- Planetary Chemistry and Astrobiology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA.
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Abstract
All known life forms trace back to a last universal common ancestor (LUCA) that witnessed the onset of Darwinian evolution. One can ask questions about LUCA in various ways, the most common way being to look for traits that are common to all cells, like ribosomes or the genetic code. With the availability of genomes, we can, however, also ask what genes are ancient by virtue of their phylogeny rather than by virtue of being universal. That approach, undertaken recently, leads to a different view of LUCA than we have had in the past, one that fits well with the harsh geochemical setting of early Earth and resembles the biology of prokaryotes that today inhabit the Earth's crust.
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Baymann F, Schoepp-Cothenet B, Duval S, Guiral M, Brugna M, Baffert C, Russell MJ, Nitschke W. On the Natural History of Flavin-Based Electron Bifurcation. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:1357. [PMID: 30018596 PMCID: PMC6037941 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Electron bifurcation is here described as a special case of the continuum of electron transfer reactions accessible to two-electron redox compounds with redox cooperativity. We argue that electron bifurcation is foremost an electrochemical phenomenon based on (a) strongly inverted redox potentials of the individual redox transitions, (b) a high endergonicity of the first redox transition, and (c) an escapement-type mechanism rendering completion of the first electron transfer contingent on occurrence of the second one. This mechanism is proposed to govern both the traditional quinone-based and the newly discovered flavin-based versions of electron bifurcation. Conserved and variable aspects of the spatial arrangement of electron transfer partners in flavoenzymes are assayed by comparing the presently available 3D structures. A wide sample of flavoenzymes is analyzed with respect to conserved structural modules and three major structural groups are identified which serve as basic frames for the evolutionary construction of a plethora of flavin-containing redox enzymes. We argue that flavin-based and other types of electron bifurcation are of primordial importance to free energy conversion, the quintessential foundation of life, and discuss a plausible evolutionary ancestry of the mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frauke Baymann
- CNRS, BIP, UMR 7281, IMM FR3479, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | | | - Simon Duval
- CNRS, BIP, UMR 7281, IMM FR3479, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Marianne Guiral
- CNRS, BIP, UMR 7281, IMM FR3479, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Myriam Brugna
- CNRS, BIP, UMR 7281, IMM FR3479, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Carole Baffert
- CNRS, BIP, UMR 7281, IMM FR3479, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Michael J. Russell
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - Wolfgang Nitschke
- CNRS, BIP, UMR 7281, IMM FR3479, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
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Vitas M, Dobovišek A. In the Beginning was a Mutualism - On the Origin of Translation. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2018; 48:223-243. [PMID: 29713988 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-018-9557-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2017] [Accepted: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The origin of translation is critical for understanding the evolution of life, including the origins of life. The canonical genetic code is one of the most dominant aspects of life on this planet, while the origin of heredity is one of the key evolutionary transitions in living world. Why the translation apparatus evolved is one of the enduring mysteries of molecular biology. Assuming the hypothesis, that during the emergence of life evolution had to first involve autocatalytic systems which only subsequently acquired the capacity of genetic heredity, we propose and discuss possible mechanisms, basic aspects of the emergence and subsequent molecular evolution of translation and ribosomes, as well as enzymes as we know them today. It is possible, in this sense, to view the ribosome as a digital-to-analogue information converter. The proposed mechanism is based on the abilities and tendencies of short RNA and polypeptides to fold and to catalyse biochemical reactions. The proposed mechanism is in concordance with the hypothesis of a possible chemical co-evolution of RNA and proteins in the origin of the genetic code or even more generally at the early evolution of life on Earth. The possible abundance and availability of monomers at prebiotic conditions are considered in the mechanism. The hypothesis that early polypeptides were folding on the RNA scaffold is also considered and mutualism in molecular evolutionary development of RNA and peptides is favoured.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marko Vitas
- , Laze pri Borovnici 38, Borovnica, Slovenia.
| | - Andrej Dobovišek
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia
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Converting Escherichia coli into an archaebacterium with a hybrid heterochiral membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:3704-3709. [PMID: 29555770 PMCID: PMC5889666 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1721604115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli has been engineered toward an archaebacterium with an unprecedented high level of archaeal ether phospholipids. The obtained cells stably maintain a mixed heterochiral membrane. This finding challenges theories that assume that intrinsic instability of mixed membranes led to the “lipid divide” and the subsequent differentiation of bacteria and archaea. Furthermore, this study paves the way for future membrane engineering of industrial production organisms with improved robustness. One of the main differences between bacteria and archaea concerns their membrane composition. Whereas bacterial membranes are made up of glycerol-3-phosphate ester lipids, archaeal membranes are composed of glycerol-1-phosphate ether lipids. Here, we report the construction of a stable hybrid heterochiral membrane through lipid engineering of the bacterium Escherichia coli. By boosting isoprenoid biosynthesis and heterologous expression of archaeal ether lipid biosynthesis genes, we obtained a viable E. coli strain of which the membranes contain archaeal lipids with the expected stereochemistry. It has been found that the archaeal lipid biosynthesis enzymes are relatively promiscuous with respect to their glycerol phosphate backbone and that E. coli has the unexpected potential to generate glycerol-1-phosphate. The unprecedented level of 20–30% archaeal lipids in a bacterial cell has allowed for analyzing the effect on the mixed-membrane cell’s phenotype. Interestingly, growth rates are unchanged, whereas the robustness of cells with a hybrid heterochiral membrane appeared slightly increased. The implications of these findings for evolutionary scenarios are discussed.
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35
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Raanan H, Pike DH, Moore EK, Falkowski PG, Nanda V. Modular origins of biological electron transfer chains. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:1280-1285. [PMID: 29358375 PMCID: PMC5819401 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714225115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Oxidoreductases catalyze electron transfer reactions that ultimately provide the energy for life. A limited set of ancestral protein-metal modules are presumably the building blocks that evolved into this diverse protein family. However, the identity of these modules and their path to modern oxidoreductases is unknown. Using a comparative structural analysis approach, we identify a set of fundamental electron transfer modules that have evolved to form the extant oxidoreductases. Using transition metal-containing cofactors as fiducial markers, it is possible to cluster cofactor microenvironments into as few as four major modules: bacterial ferredoxin, cytochrome c, symerythrin, and plastocyanin-type folds. From structural alignments, it is challenging to ascertain whether modules evolved from a single common ancestor (homology) or arose by independent convergence on a limited set of structural forms (analogy). Additional insight into common origins is contained in the spatial adjacency network (SPAN), which is based on proximity of modules in oxidoreductases containing multiple cofactor electron transfer chains. Electron transfer chains within complex modern oxidoreductases likely evolved through repeated duplication and diversification of ancient modular units that arose in the Archean eon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hagai Raanan
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854
| | - Douglas H Pike
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854
| | - Eli K Moore
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
| | - Paul G Falkowski
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901;
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
| | - Vikas Nanda
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854;
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854
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Dibrova DV, Shalaeva DN, Galperin MY, Mulkidjanian AY. Emergence of cytochrome bc complexes in the context of photosynthesis. PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM 2017; 161:150-170. [PMID: 28493482 PMCID: PMC5600118 DOI: 10.1111/ppl.12586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Revised: 04/22/2017] [Accepted: 05/04/2017] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
The cytochrome bc (cyt bc) complexes are involved in Q-cycling; they oxidize membrane quinols by high-potential electron acceptors, such as cytochromes or plastocyanin, and generate transmembrane proton gradient. In several prokaryotic lineages, and also in plant chloroplasts, the catalytic core of the cyt bc complexes is built of a four-helical cytochrome b (cyt b) that contains three hemes, a three-helical subunit IV, and an iron-sulfur Rieske protein (cytochrome b6 f-type complexes). In other prokaryotic lineages, and also in mitochondria, the cyt b subunit is fused with subunit IV, yielding a seven- or eight-helical cyt b with only two hemes (cyt bc1 -type complexes). Here we present an updated phylogenomic analysis of the cyt b subunits of cyt bc complexes. This analysis provides further support to our earlier suggestion that (1) the ancestral version of cyt bc complex contained a small four-helical cyt b with three hemes similar to the plant cytochrome b6 and (2) independent fusion events led to the formation of large cyts b in several lineages. In the search for a primordial function for the ancestral cyt bc complex, we address the intimate connection between the cyt bc complexes and photosynthesis. Indeed, the Q-cycle turnover in the cyt bc complexes demands high-potential electron acceptors. Before the Great Oxygenation Event, the biosphere had been highly reduced, so high-potential electron acceptors could only be generated upon light-driven charge separation. It appears that an ancestral cyt bc complex capable of Q-cycling has emerged in conjunction with the (bacterio)chlorophyll-based photosynthetic systems that continuously generated electron vacancies at the oxidized (bacterio)chlorophyll molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daria V. Dibrova
- A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico‐Chemical BiologyLomonosov Moscow State UniversityMoscow119991Russia
| | - Daria N. Shalaeva
- School of Bioengineering and BioinformaticsLomonosov Moscow State UniversityMoscow119991Russia
- School of PhysicsUniversity of OsnabrueckOsnabrueckD‐49069Germany
| | - Michael Y. Galperin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of MedicineNational Institutes of HealthBethesdaMD20894USA
| | - Armen Y. Mulkidjanian
- A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico‐Chemical BiologyLomonosov Moscow State UniversityMoscow119991Russia
- School of Bioengineering and BioinformaticsLomonosov Moscow State UniversityMoscow119991Russia
- School of PhysicsUniversity of OsnabrueckOsnabrueckD‐49069Germany
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38
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Barge LM, White LM. Experimentally Testing Hydrothermal Vent Origin of Life on Enceladus and Other Icy/Ocean Worlds. ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 17:820-833. [PMID: 28836818 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2016.1633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
We review various laboratory strategies and methods that can be utilized to simulate prebiotic processes and origin of life in hydrothermal vent systems on icy/ocean worlds. Crucial steps that could be simulated in the laboratory include simulations of water-rock chemistry (e.g., serpentinization) to produce hydrothermal fluids, the types of mineral catalysts and energy gradients produced in vent interfaces where hydrothermal fluids interface with the surrounding seawater, and simulations of biologically relevant chemistry in flow-through gradient systems (i.e., far-from-equilibrium experiments). We describe some examples of experimental designs in detail, which are adaptable and could be used to test particular hypotheses about ocean world energetics or mineral/organic chemistry. Enceladus among the ocean worlds provides an ideal test case, since the pressure at the ocean floor is more easily simulated in the lab. Results for Enceladus could be extrapolated with further experiments and modeling to understand other ocean worlds. Key Words: Enceladus-Ocean worlds-Icy worlds-Hydrothermal vent-Iron sulfide-Gradient. Astrobiology 17, 820-833.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
| | - Lauren M White
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California
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39
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Learning to read and write in evolution: from static pseudoenzymes and pseudosignalers to dynamic gear shifters. Biochem Soc Trans 2017; 45:635-652. [PMID: 28620026 DOI: 10.1042/bst20160281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 02/16/2017] [Accepted: 02/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We present a systems biology view on pseudoenzymes that acknowledges that genes are not selfish: the genome is. With network function as the selectable unit, there has been an evolutionary bonus for recombination of functions of and within proteins. Many proteins house a functionality by which they 'read' the cell's state, and one by which they 'write' and thereby change that state. Should the writer domain lose its cognate function, a 'pseudoenzyme' or 'pseudosignaler' arises. GlnK involved in Escherichia coli ammonia assimilation may well be a pseudosignaler, associating 'reading' the nitrogen state of the cell to 'writing' the ammonium uptake activity. We identify functional pseudosignalers in the cyclin-dependent kinase complexes regulating cell-cycle progression. For the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, we illustrate how a 'dead' pseudosignaler could produce potentially selectable functionalities. Four billion years ago, bioenergetics may have shuffled 'electron-writers', producing various networks that all served the same function of anaerobic ATP synthesis and carbon assimilation from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, but at different ATP/acetate ratios. This would have enabled organisms to deal with variable challenges of energy need and substrate supply. The same principle might enable 'gear-shifting' in real time, by dynamically generating different pseudo-redox enzymes, reshuffling their coenzymes, and rerouting network fluxes. Non-stationary pH gradients in thermal vents together with similar such shuffling mechanisms may have produced a first selectable proton-motivated pyrophosphate synthase and subsequent ATP synthase. A combination of functionalities into enzymes, signalers, and the pseudo-versions thereof may offer fitness in terms of plasticity, both in real time and in evolution.
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Allen JF. A Proposal for Formation of Archaean Stromatolites before the Advent of Oxygenic Photosynthesis. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:1784. [PMID: 27895626 PMCID: PMC5108776 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2016] [Accepted: 10/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Stromatolites are solid, laminar structures of biological origin. Living examples are sparsely distributed and formed by cyanobacteria, which are oxygenic phototrophs. However, stromatolites were abundant between 3.4 and 2.4 Gyr, prior to the advent of cyanobacteria and oxygenic photosynthesis. Here I propose that many Archaean stromatolites were seeded at points of efflux of hydrogen sulfide from hydrothermal fields into shallow water, while their laminar composition arose from alternating modes of strictly anoxygenic photosynthetic metabolism. These changes were a redox regulatory response of gene expression to changing hydrogen sulfide concentration, which fluctuated with intermittent dilution by tidal action or by rainfall into surface waters. The proposed redox switch between modes of metabolism deposited sequential microbial mats. These mats gave rise to alternating carbonate sediments predicted to retain evidence of their origin in differing ratios of isotopes of carbon and sulfur and in organic content. The mats may have arisen either by replacement of microbial populations or by continuous lineages of protocyanobacteria in which a redox genetic switch selected between Types I and II photosynthetic reaction centers, and thus between photolithoautotrophic and photoorganoheterotrophic metabolism. In the latter case, and by 2.4 Gyr at the latest, a mutation had disabled the redox genetic switch to give simultaneous constitutive expression of both Types I and II reaction centers, and thus to the ability to extract electrons from manganese and then water. By this simple step, the first cyanobacterium had the dramatic advantage of emancipation from limiting supplies of inorganic electron donors, produced free molecular oxygen as a waste product, and initiated the Great Oxidation Event in Earth's history at the transition from the Archaean to the Paleoproterozoic.
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Affiliation(s)
- John F Allen
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London London, UK
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Harel A, Häggblom MM, Falkowski PG, Yee N. Evolution of prokaryotic respiratory molybdoenzymes and the frequency of their genomic co-occurrence. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2016; 92:fiw187. [DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiw187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/05/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
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Jelen BI, Giovannelli D, Falkowski PG. The Role of Microbial Electron Transfer in the Coevolution of the Biosphere and Geosphere. Annu Rev Microbiol 2016; 70:45-62. [PMID: 27297124 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
All life on Earth is dependent on biologically mediated electron transfer (i.e., redox) reactions that are far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Biological redox reactions originally evolved in prokaryotes and ultimately, over the first ∼2.5 billion years of Earth's history, formed a global electronic circuit. To maintain the circuit on a global scale requires that oxidants and reductants be transported; the two major planetary wires that connect global metabolism are geophysical fluids-the atmosphere and the oceans. Because all organisms exchange gases with the environment, the evolution of redox reactions has been a major force in modifying the chemistry at Earth's surface. Here we briefly review the discovery and consequences of redox reactions in microbes with a specific focus on the coevolution of life and geochemical phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin I Jelen
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Institute of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901; , ,
| | - Donato Giovannelli
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Institute of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901; , , .,Institute of Marine Science, National Research Council, 60125 Ancona, Italy.,Program in Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.,Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan 152-8550
| | - Paul G Falkowski
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Institute of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901; , , .,Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08854
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Sousa FL, Nelson-Sathi S, Martin WF. One step beyond a ribosome: The ancient anaerobic core. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2016; 1857:1027-1038. [PMID: 27150504 PMCID: PMC4906156 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2016.04.284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Revised: 02/03/2016] [Accepted: 04/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Life arose in a world without oxygen and the first organisms were anaerobes. Here we investigate the gene repertoire of the prokaryote common ancestor, estimating which genes it contained and to which lineages of modern prokaryotes it was most similar in terms of gene content. Using a phylogenetic approach we found that among trees for all 8779 protein families shared between 134 archaea and 1847 bacterial genomes, only 1045 have sequences from at least two bacterial and two archaeal groups and retain the ancestral archaeal–bacterial split. Among those, the genes shared by anaerobes were identified as candidate genes for the prokaryote common ancestor, which lived in anaerobic environments. We find that these anaerobic prokaryote common ancestor genes are today most frequently distributed among methanogens and clostridia, strict anaerobes that live from low free energy changes near the thermodynamic limit of life. The anaerobic families encompass genes for bifunctional acetyl-CoA-synthase/CO-dehydrogenase, heterodisulfide reductase subunits C and A, ferredoxins, and several subunits of the Mrp-antiporter/hydrogenase family, in addition to numerous S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) dependent methyltransferases. The data indicate a major role for methyl groups in the metabolism of the prokaryote common ancestor. The data furthermore indicate that the prokaryote ancestor possessed a rotor stator ATP synthase, but lacked cytochromes and quinones as well as identifiable redox-dependent ion pumping complexes. The prokaryote ancestor did possess, however, an Mrp-type H+/Na+ antiporter complex, capable of transducing geochemical pH gradients into biologically more stable Na+-gradients. The findings implicate a hydrothermal, autotrophic, and methyl-dependent origin of life. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘EBEC 2016: 19th European Bioenergetics Conference, Riva del Garda, Italy, July 2–6, 2016’, edited by Prof. Paolo Bernardi. Life arose without oxygen, the universal ancestor (Luca) was an anaerobe. We used phylogenetic and physiological criteria to identify genes present in Luca. An ancient core of 65 metabolic genes shed light on Luca's anaerobic lifestyle. Ancient core genes are most widespread among modern methanogens and clostridia. The data implicate a major role for methyl groups in Luca's anaerobic metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipa L Sousa
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Shijulal Nelson-Sathi
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - William F Martin
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Leimkühler S, Iobbi-Nivol C. Bacterial molybdoenzymes: old enzymes for new purposes. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2015; 40:1-18. [PMID: 26468212 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuv043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/05/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Molybdoenzymes are widespread in eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms where they play crucial functions in detoxification reactions in the metabolism of humans and bacteria, in nitrate assimilation in plants and in anaerobic respiration in bacteria. To be fully active, these enzymes require complex molybdenum-containing cofactors, which are inserted into the apoenzymes after folding. For almost all the bacterial molybdoenzymes, molybdenum cofactor insertion requires the involvement of specific chaperones. In this review, an overview on the molybdenum cofactor biosynthetic pathway is given together with the role of specific chaperones dedicated for molybdenum cofactor insertion and maturation. Many bacteria are involved in geochemical cycles on earth and therefore have an environmental impact. The roles of molybdoenzymes in bioremediation and for environmental applications are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silke Leimkühler
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Department of Molecular Enzymology, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Chantal Iobbi-Nivol
- The Laboratoire de Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, CNRS, Aix Marseille Université, 13402 Marseille cedex 20, France
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Wu SY, Rothery RA, Weiner JH. Pyranopterin Coordination Controls Molybdenum Electrochemistry in Escherichia coli Nitrate Reductase. J Biol Chem 2015; 290:25164-73. [PMID: 26297003 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m115.665422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
We test the hypothesis that pyranopterin (PPT) coordination plays a critical role in defining molybdenum active site redox chemistry and reactivity in the mononuclear molybdoenzymes. The molybdenum atom of Escherichia coli nitrate reductase A (NarGHI) is coordinated by two PPT-dithiolene chelates that are defined as proximal and distal based on their proximity to a [4Fe-4S] cluster known as FS0. We examined variants of two sets of residues involved in PPT coordination: (i) those interacting directly or indirectly with the pyran oxygen of the bicyclic distal PPT (NarG-Ser(719), NarG-His(1163), and NarG-His(1184)); and (ii) those involved in bridging the two PPTs and stabilizing the oxidation state of the proximal PPT (NarG-His(1092) and NarG-His(1098)). A S719A variant has essentially no effect on the overall Mo(VI/IV) reduction potential, whereas the H1163A and H1184A variants elicit large effects (ΔEm values of -88 and -36 mV, respectively). Ala variants of His(1092) and His(1098) also elicit large ΔEm values of -143 and -101 mV, respectively. An Arg variant of His(1092) elicits a small ΔEm of +18 mV on the Mo(VI/IV) reduction potential. There is a linear correlation between the molybdenum Em value and both enzyme activity and the ability to support anaerobic respiratory growth on nitrate. These data support a non-innocent role for the PPT moieties in controlling active site metal redox chemistry and catalysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng-Yi Wu
- From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Richard A Rothery
- From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Joel H Weiner
- From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H7, Canada
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Bay DC, Chan CS, Turner RJ. NarJ subfamily system specific chaperone diversity and evolution is directed by respiratory enzyme associations. BMC Evol Biol 2015; 15:110. [PMID: 26067063 PMCID: PMC4464133 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-015-0412-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2015] [Accepted: 06/04/2015] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Redox enzyme maturation proteins (REMPs) describe a diverse family of prokaryotic chaperones involved in the biogenesis of anaerobic complex iron sulfur molybdoenzyme (CISM) respiratory systems. Many REMP family studies have focused on NarJ subfamily members from Escherichia coli: NarJ, NarW, DmsD, TorD and YcdY. The aim of this bioinformatics study was to expand upon the evolution, distribution and genetic association of these 5 REMP members within 130 genome sequenced taxonomically diverse species representing 324 Prokaryotic sequences. NarJ subfamily member diversity was examined at the phylum-species level and at the amino acid/nucleotide level to determine how close their genetic associations were between their respective CISM systems within phyla. Results This study revealed that NarJ members possessed unique motifs that distinguished Gram-negative from Gram-positive/Archaeal species and identified a strict genetic association with its nitrate reductase complex (narGHI) operon compared to all other members. NarW appears to be found specifically in Gammaproteobacteria. DmsD also showed close associations with the dimethylsulfoxide reductase (dmsABC) operon compared to TorD. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that YcdY has recently evolved from DmsD and that YcdY has likely diverged into 2 subfamilies linked to Zn- dependent alkaline phosphatase (ycdX) operons and a newly identified operon containing part of Zn-metallopeptidase FtsH complex component (hflC) and NADH-quinone dehydrogenase (mdaB). TorD demonstrated the greatest diversity in operon association. TorD was identifed within operons from either trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase (torAC) or formate dehydrogenase (fdhGHI), where each type of TorD had a unique motif. Additionally a subgroup of dmsD and torD members were also linked to operons with biotin sulfoxide (bisC) and polysulfide reductase (nrfD) indicating a potential role in the maturation of diverse CISM. Conclusion Examination of diverse prokaryotic NarJ subfamily members demonstrates that the evolution and genetic association of each member is uniquely biased by its CISM operon association. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0412-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denice C Bay
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Rm 156 Biological Science Bldg., 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, T2N 1 N4, AB, Canada.
| | - Catherine S Chan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Rm 156 Biological Science Bldg., 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, T2N 1 N4, AB, Canada.
| | - Raymond J Turner
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Rm 156 Biological Science Bldg., 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, T2N 1 N4, AB, Canada.
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Abstract
Quinol oxidation in the catalytic quinol oxidation site (Qo site) of cytochrome (cyt) bc1 complexes is the key step of the Q cycle mechanism, which laid the ground for Mitchell’s chemiosmotic theory of energy conversion. Bifurcated electron transfer upon quinol oxidation enables proton uptake and release on opposite membrane sides, thus generating a proton gradient that fuels ATP synthesis in cellular respiration and photosynthesis. The Qo site architecture formed by cyt b and Rieske iron–sulfur protein (ISP) impedes harmful bypass reactions. Catalytic importance is assigned to four residues of cyt b formerly described as PEWY motif in the context of mitochondrial complexes, which we now denominate Qo motif as comprehensive evolutionary sequence analysis of cyt b shows substantial natural variance of the motif with phylogenetically specific patterns. In particular, the Qo motif is identified as PEWY in mitochondria, α- and ε-Proteobacteria, Aquificae, Chlorobi, Cyanobacteria, and chloroplasts. PDWY is present in Gram-positive bacteria, Deinococcus–Thermus and haloarchaea, and PVWY in β- and γ-Proteobacteria. PPWF only exists in Archaea. Distinct patterns for acidophilic organisms indicate environment-specific adaptations. Importantly, the presence of PDWY and PEWY is correlated with the redox potential of Rieske ISP and quinone species. We propose that during evolution from low to high potential electron-transfer systems in the emerging oxygenic atmosphere, cyt bc1 complexes with PEWY as Qo motif prevailed to efficiently use high potential ubiquinone as substrate, whereas cyt b with PDWY operate best with low potential Rieske ISP and menaquinone, with the latter being the likely composition of the ancestral cyt bc1 complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Chun Kao
- Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ZBMZ, BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Carola Hunte
- Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ZBMZ, BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg, Germany
- *Corresponding author: E-mail:
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Herschy B, Whicher A, Camprubi E, Watson C, Dartnell L, Ward J, Evans JRG, Lane N. An origin-of-life reactor to simulate alkaline hydrothermal vents. J Mol Evol 2014; 79:213-27. [PMID: 25428684 PMCID: PMC4247476 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-014-9658-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2014] [Accepted: 11/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Chemiosmotic coupling is universal: practically all cells harness electrochemical proton gradients across membranes to drive ATP synthesis, powering biochemistry. Autotrophic cells, including phototrophs and chemolithotrophs, also use proton gradients to power carbon fixation directly. The universality of chemiosmotic coupling suggests that it arose very early in evolution, but its origins are obscure. Alkaline hydrothermal systems sustain natural proton gradients across the thin inorganic barriers of interconnected micropores within deep-sea vents. In Hadean oceans, these inorganic barriers should have contained catalytic Fe(Ni)S minerals similar in structure to cofactors in modern metabolic enzymes, suggesting a possible abiotic origin of chemiosmotic coupling. The continuous supply of H2 and CO2 from vent fluids and early oceans, respectively, offers further parallels with the biochemistry of ancient autotrophic cells, notably the acetyl CoA pathway in archaea and bacteria. However, the precise mechanisms by which natural proton gradients, H2, CO2 and metal sulphides could have driven organic synthesis are uncertain, and theoretical ideas lack empirical support. We have built a simple electrochemical reactor to simulate conditions in alkaline hydrothermal vents, allowing investigation of the possibility that abiotic vent chemistry could prefigure the origins of biochemistry. We discuss the construction and testing of the reactor, describing the precipitation of thin-walled, inorganic structures containing nickel-doped mackinawite, a catalytic Fe(Ni)S mineral, under prebiotic ocean conditions. These simulated vent structures appear to generate low yields of simple organics. Synthetic microporous matrices can concentrate organics by thermophoresis over several orders of magnitude under continuous open-flow vent conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barry Herschy
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Alexandra Whicher
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Eloi Camprubi
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Cameron Watson
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Lewis Dartnell
- Space Research Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - John Ward
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Nick Lane
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
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Rothery RA, Weiner JH. Shifting the metallocentric molybdoenzyme paradigm: the importance of pyranopterin coordination. J Biol Inorg Chem 2014; 20:349-72. [PMID: 25267303 DOI: 10.1007/s00775-014-1194-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2014] [Accepted: 09/15/2014] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
In this review, we test the hypothesis that pyranopterin coordination plays a critical role in defining substrate reactivities in the four families of mononuclear molybdenum and tungsten enzymes (Mo/W-enzymes). Enzyme families containing a single pyranopterin dithiolene chelate have been demonstrated to have reactivity towards two (sulfite oxidase, SUOX-fold) and five (xanthine dehydrogenase, XDH-fold) types of substrate, whereas the major family of enzymes containing a bis-pyranopterin dithiolene chelate (dimethylsulfoxide reductase, DMSOR-fold) is reactive towards eight types of substrate. A second bis-pyranopterin enzyme (aldehyde oxidoreductase, AOR-fold) family catalyzes a single type of reaction. The diversity of reactions catalyzed by each family correlates with active site variability, and also with the number of pyranopterins and their coordination by the protein. In the case of the AOR-fold enzymes, inflexibility of pyranopterin coordination correlates with their limited substrate specificity (oxidation of aldehydes). In examples of the SUOX-fold and DMSOR-fold enzymes, we observe three types of histidine-containing charge-transfer relays that can: (1) connect the piperazine ring of the pyranopterin to the substrate-binding site (SUOX-fold enzymes); (2) provide inter-pyranopterin communication (DMSOR-fold enzymes); and (3) connect a pyran ring oxygen to deeply buried water molecules (the DMSOR-fold NarGHI-type nitrate reductases). Finally, sequence data mining reveals a number of bacterial species whose predicted proteomes contain large numbers (up to 64) of Mo/W-enzymes, with the DMSOR-fold enzymes being dominant. These analyses also reveal an inverse correlation between Mo/W-enzyme content and pathogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard A Rothery
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H7, Canada
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