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Jia TZ, Nishikawa S, Fujishima K. Sequencing the Origins of Life. BBA ADVANCES 2022; 2:100049. [PMID: 37082609 PMCID: PMC10074849 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadva.2022.100049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Revised: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
One goal of origins of life research is to understand how primitive informational and catalytic biopolymers emerged and evolved. Recently, a number of sequencing techniques have been applied to analysis of replicating and evolving primitive biopolymer systems, providing a sequence-specific and high-resolution view of primitive chemical processes. Here, we review application of sequencing techniques to analysis of synthetic and primitive nucleic acids and polypeptides. This includes next-generation sequencing of primitive polymerization and evolution processes, followed by discussion of other novel biochemical techniques that could contribute to sequence analysis of primitive biopolymer driven chemical systems. Further application of sequencing to origins of life research, perhaps as a life detection technology, could provide insight into the origin and evolution of informational and catalytic biopolymers on early Earth or elsewhere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tony Z. Jia
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, 600 1st Ave, Floor 1, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
- Corresponding author
| | - Shota Nishikawa
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8501, Japan
| | - Kosuke Fujishima
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, 5322 Endo, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa 252-0882, Japan
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Azuma WA, Nakashima S, Yamakita E, Ohta T. Water Adsorption to Leaves of Tall Cryptomeria japonica Tree Analyzed by Infrared Spectroscopy under Relative Humidity Control. PLANTS 2020; 9:plants9091107. [PMID: 32867326 PMCID: PMC7569789 DOI: 10.3390/plants9091107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Revised: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Leaf water storage is a complex interaction between live tissue properties (anatomy and physiology) and physicochemical properties of biomolecules and water. How leaves adsorb water molecules based on interactions between biomolecules and water, including hydrogen bonding, challenges our understanding of hydraulic acclimation in tall trees where leaves are exposed to more water stress. Here, we used infrared (IR) microspectroscopy with changing relative humidity (RH) on leaves of tall Cryptomeria japonica trees. OH band areas correlating with water content were larger for treetop (52 m) than for lower-crown (19 m) leaves, regardless of relative humidity (RH). This high water adsorption in treetop leaves was not explained by polysaccharides such as Ca-bridged pectin, but could be attributed to the greater cross-sectional area of the transfusion tissue. In both treetop and lower-crown leaves, the band areas of long (free water: around 3550 cm−1) and short (bound water: around 3200 cm−1) hydrogen bonding OH components showed similar increases with increasing RH, while the band area of free water was larger at the treetop leaves regardless of RH. Free water molecules with longer H bonds were considered to be adsorbed loosely to hydrophobic CH surfaces of polysaccharides in the leaf-cross sections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wakana A. Azuma
- Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe 675-8501, Japan
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +81-78-803-5936
| | - Satoru Nakashima
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Osaka 560-0043, Japan or (S.N.); (E.Y.)
- Faculty of Environmental and Urban Engineering, Kansai University, Osaka, Suita 564-8680, Japan
- Research Institute for Natural Environment, Science and Technology (RINEST), Tarumi-cho 3-6-32 Maison Esaka 1F, Suita, Osaka 564-0062, Japan
| | - Eri Yamakita
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Osaka 560-0043, Japan or (S.N.); (E.Y.)
| | - Tamihisa Ohta
- Department of Environmental Biology and Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan;
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Muchowska KB, Varma SJ, Moran J. Nonenzymatic Metabolic Reactions and Life's Origins. Chem Rev 2020; 120:7708-7744. [PMID: 32687326 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Prebiotic chemistry aims to explain how the biochemistry of life as we know it came to be. Most efforts in this area have focused on provisioning compounds of importance to life by multistep synthetic routes that do not resemble biochemistry. However, gaining insight into why core metabolism uses the molecules, reactions, pathways, and overall organization that it does requires us to consider molecules not only as synthetic end goals. Equally important are the dynamic processes that build them up and break them down. This perspective has led many researchers to the hypothesis that the first stage of the origin of life began with the onset of a primitive nonenzymatic version of metabolism, initially catalyzed by naturally occurring minerals and metal ions. This view of life's origins has come to be known as "metabolism first". Continuity with modern metabolism would require a primitive version of metabolism to build and break down ketoacids, sugars, amino acids, and ribonucleotides in much the same way as the pathways that do it today. This review discusses metabolic pathways of relevance to the origin of life in a manner accessible to chemists, and summarizes experiments suggesting several pathways might have their roots in prebiotic chemistry. Finally, key remaining milestones for the protometabolic hypothesis are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sreejith J Varma
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS UMR 7006, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Joseph Moran
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS UMR 7006, 67000 Strasbourg, France
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Abstract
Viruses are diverse parasites of cells and extremely abundant. They might have arisen during an early phase of the evolution of life on Earth dominated by ribonucleic acid or RNA-like macromolecules, or when a cellular world was already well established. The theories of the origin of life on Earth shed light on the possible origin of primitive viruses or virus-like genetic elements in our biosphere. Some features of present-day viruses, notably error-prone replication, might be a consequence of the selective forces that mediated their ancestral origin. Two views on the role of viruses in our biosphere predominate; viruses considered as opportunistic, selfish elements, and viruses considered as active participants in the construction of the cellular world via the lateral transfer of genes. These two models have a bearing on viruses being considered predominantly as disease agents or predominantly as cooperators in the shaping of differentiated cellular organisms.
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Solar-driven chemistry: towards new catalytic solutions for a sustainable world. RENDICONTI LINCEI. SCIENZE FISICHE E NATURALI 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12210-019-00836-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Possible Roles of Amphiphilic Molecules in the Origin of Biological Homochirality. Symmetry (Basel) 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/sym11080966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A review. The question of homochirality is an intriguing problem in the field of chemistry, and is deeply related to the origin of life. Though amphiphiles and their supramolecular assembly have attracted less attention compared to biomacromolecules such as RNA and proteins, the lipid world hypothesis sheds new light on the origin of life. This review describes how amphiphilic molecules are possibly involved in the scenario of homochirality. Some prebiotic conditions relevant to amphiphilic molecules will also be described. It could be said that the chiral properties of amphiphilic molecules have various interesting features such as compositional information, spontaneous formation, the ability to exchange components, fission and fusion, adsorption, and permeation. This review aims to clarify the roles of amphiphiles regarding homochirality, and to determine what kinds of physical properties of amphiphilic molecules could have played a role in the scenario of homochirality.
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Shtyrlin VG, Borissenok VA, Serov NY, Simakov VG, Bragunets VA, Trunin IR, Tereshkina IA, Koshkin SA, Bukharov MS, Gilyazetdinov EM, Shestakov EE, Sirotkina AG, Zakharov AV. Prebiotic Syntheses Under Shock in the Water - Formamide - Potassium Bicarbonate - Sodium Hydroxide System. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2019; 49:1-18. [PMID: 31004318 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-019-09575-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/25/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Syntheses under shock in nitrogen bubbled samples of the water - formamide - bicarbonate - sodium hydroxide system at pH 8.63, 9.46 and 10.44 were performed in the stainless steel preservation capsules. The maximum temperature and pressure in the capsules reached 545 K and 12.5 GPa respectively. Using the LC-MS-MS analysis, the 21 synthesis products have been identified, including amines and polyamines, carboxamide, acetamide and urea derivatives, compounds containing aniline, pyrrolidine, pyrrole, imidazole, as well as alcohol groups. It was found that the Fischer-Tropsch-type syntheses with catalysis on the surface of the stainless steel of the conservation capsule associated with the adsorbed hydrogen cyanide reactions and transamidation processes play the main role in the shock syntheses. Formation reactions of all the above-mentioned compounds have been suggested. It was proposed that hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, isocyanic acid, aminonitrile, aminoacetonitrile, as well as adsorbed species H(a), CH(a), CH2(a), CHOH(a), NH2(a) and H2CNH(a) are especially important for the formation of the products. A reduction reaction of adsorbed bicarbonate with hydrogen to formaldehyde has been first postulated. In the studied system also classical reactions take place - Wöhler's synthesis of urea and Butlerov's synthesis of methenamine. It was suggest that material of meteorites may be an effective catalyst in the Fischer-Tropsch-type syntheses at falling of the iron-nickel meteorites in the water - formamide regions on the early Earth. It was concluded that life could have originated due to the impact of meteorites on alkaline water-formamide lakes located near volcanoes on the early Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valery G Shtyrlin
- A.M. Butlerov Chemistry Institute, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya St., 18, Kazan, Russian Federation, 420008.
| | - Valery A Borissenok
- Sarov Physical Technical Institute, National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Dukhov St., 6, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607184
| | - Nikita Yu Serov
- A.M. Butlerov Chemistry Institute, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya St., 18, Kazan, Russian Federation, 420008
| | - Vladimir G Simakov
- Sarov Physical Technical Institute, National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Dukhov St., 6, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607184
- Russian Federal Nuclear Center, All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Mir Pr., 37, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607188
| | - Vyacheslav A Bragunets
- Russian Federal Nuclear Center, All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Mir Pr., 37, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607188
| | - Ivan R Trunin
- Sarov Physical Technical Institute, National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Dukhov St., 6, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607184
- Russian Federal Nuclear Center, All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Mir Pr., 37, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607188
| | - Irina A Tereshkina
- Sarov Physical Technical Institute, National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Dukhov St., 6, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607184
- Russian Federal Nuclear Center, All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Mir Pr., 37, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607188
| | - Sergey A Koshkin
- A.M. Butlerov Chemistry Institute, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya St., 18, Kazan, Russian Federation, 420008
| | - Mikhail S Bukharov
- A.M. Butlerov Chemistry Institute, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya St., 18, Kazan, Russian Federation, 420008
| | - Edward M Gilyazetdinov
- A.M. Butlerov Chemistry Institute, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya St., 18, Kazan, Russian Federation, 420008
| | - Evgeny E Shestakov
- Sarov Physical Technical Institute, National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Dukhov St., 6, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607184
- Russian Federal Nuclear Center, All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Mir Pr., 37, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607188
| | - Anna G Sirotkina
- Sarov Physical Technical Institute, National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Dukhov St., 6, Sarov, Russian Federation, 607184
| | - Alexey V Zakharov
- A.M. Butlerov Chemistry Institute, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya St., 18, Kazan, Russian Federation, 420008
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Kitadai N, Nakamura R, Yamamoto M, Takai K, Yoshida N, Oono Y. Metals likely promoted protometabolism in early ocean alkaline hydrothermal systems. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaav7848. [PMID: 31223650 PMCID: PMC6584212 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav7848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
One of the most plausible scenarios of the origin of life assumes the preceding prebiotic autotrophic metabolism in sulfide-rich hydrothermal vent environments. However, geochemical mechanisms to harness the reductive power provided by hydrothermal systems remain to be elucidated. Here, we show that, under a geoelectrochemical condition realizable in the early ocean hydrothermal systems, several metal sulfides (FeS, Ag2S, CuS, and PbS) undergo hour- to day-scale conversion to the corresponding metals at ≤-0.7 V (versus the standard hydrogen electrode). The electrochemically produced FeS-Fe0 assemblage promoted various reactions including certain steps in the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle with efficiencies far superior to those due to pure FeS. The threshold potential is readily generated in the H2-rich alkaline hydrothermal systems that were probably ubiquitous on the Hadean seafloor. Thus, widespread metal production and metal-sustained primordial metabolism were likely to occur as a natural consequence of the active hydrothermal processes on the Hadean Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norio Kitadai
- Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Masahiro Yamamoto
- Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
| | - Ken Takai
- Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Naohiro Yoshida
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanazawa 226-8503, Japan
| | - Yoshi Oono
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801-3080, USA
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Higgins MF, Rudkin B, Kuo CH. Oral Ingestion of Deep Ocean Minerals Increases High-Intensity Intermittent Running Capacity in Soccer Players after Short-Term Post-Exercise Recovery: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial. Mar Drugs 2019; 17:md17050309. [PMID: 31137724 PMCID: PMC6562975 DOI: 10.3390/md17050309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 05/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examined whether deep ocean mineral (DOM) supplementation improved high-intensity intermittent running capacity after short-term recovery from an initial bout of prolonged high-intensity running in thermoneutral environmental conditions. Nine healthy recreational male soccer players (age: 22 ± 1 y; stature: 181 ± 5 cm; and body mass 80 ± 11 kg) completed a graded incremental test to ascertain peak oxygen uptake (V·O2PEAK), two familiarisation trials, and two experimental trials following a double-blind, repeated measures, crossover and counterbalanced design. All trials were separated by seven days and at ambient room temperature (i.e., 20 °C). During the 2 h recovery period after the initial ~60 min running at 75% V·O2PEAK, participants were provided with 1.38 ± 0.51 L of either deep ocean mineral water (DOM) or a taste-matched placebo (PLA), both mixed with 6% sucrose. DOM increased high-intensity running capacity by ~25% compared to PLA. There were no differences between DOM and PLA for blood lactate concentration, blood glucose concentration, or urine osmolality. The minerals and trace elements within DOM, either individually or synergistically, appear to have augmented high-intensity running capacity in healthy, recreationally active male soccer players after short-term recovery from an initial bout of prolonged, high-intensity running in thermoneutral environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew F Higgins
- Human Sciences Research Centre, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB, UK.
| | - Benjamin Rudkin
- Human Sciences Research Centre, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB, UK.
| | - Chia-Hua Kuo
- Institute of Sports Sciences, University of Taipei, Shilin District, Taipei 111, Taiwan.
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