A possible prebiotic synthesis of monocarboxylic acids

Allen, William V.; Ponnamperuma, Cyril

doi:10.1016/0303-2647(67)90017-2

Cited by 40 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Fatty acids can be synthesized abiotically in several ways. For example, Miller-Urey-type electrical discharge reactions in a solution of ammonia under a nitrogen and methane atmosphere yield fatty acids with a chain length up to C12 (Allen and Ponnamperuma 1967;Yuen et al 1981). Abiotic syntheses generally yield decreasing amounts of fatty acids of longer chain lengths.…”

Section: Amphiphiles For Protocellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Self-Assembled Vesicles to Protocells

Chen

Walde²

2010

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

234

188

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Self-assembled vesicles are essential components of primitive cells. We review the importance of vesicles during the origins of life, fundamental thermodynamics and kinetics of self-assembly, and experimental models of simple vesicles, focusing on prebiotically plausible fatty acids and their derivatives. We review recent work on interactions of simple vesicles with RNA and other studies of the transition from vesicles to protocells. Finally we discuss current challenges in understanding the biophysics of protocells, as well as conceptual questions in information transmission and self-replication.

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Section: Amphiphiles For Protocellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Self-Assembled Vesicles to Protocells

Chen

Walde²

2010

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

234

188

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“…Fatty acids have been found in extraterrestrial samples, such as the Murchison meteorite (9,10), and can be synthesized under simulated prebiotic conditions (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). However, a perceived disadvantage of pure fatty acid membranes is that they are highly permeable to protons and are therefore incapable of maintaining pH gradients.…”

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confidence: 99%

Membrane growth can generate a transmembrane pH gradient in fatty acid vesicles

Chen

Szostak²

2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

144

140

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Electrochemical proton gradients are the basis of energy transduction in modern cells, and may have played important roles in even the earliest cell-like structures. We have investigated the conditions under which pH gradients are maintained across the membranes of fatty acid vesicles, a model of early cell membranes. We show that pH gradients across such membranes decay rapidly in the presence of alkali-metal cations, but can be maintained in the absence of permeable cations. Under such conditions, when fatty acid vesicles grow through the incorporation of additional fatty acid, a transmembrane pH gradient is spontaneously generated. The formation of this pH gradient captures some of the energy released during membrane growth, but also opposes and limits further membrane area increase. The coupling of membrane growth to energy storage could have provided a growth advantage to early cells, once the membrane composition had evolved to allow the maintenance of stable pH gradients.

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“…There have been many theoretical and empirical studies concerning the origin of life (Oparin 1953;Crick 1968;Orgel 1968Orgel , 1992Eigen 1971;Dyson 1982Dyson , 1999Eigen & Schuster 1982;Kuppers 1983;Stein & Anderson 1984;Farmer et al 1986;Szathmary & Demeter 1987;Sievers & von Kiedrowski 1994;Fontana & Schuster 1998;Luther et al 1998;Lifson & Lifson 1999;de Duve 2005de Duve , 2007. One line of research attempts to understand how chemical processes on early Earth can spontaneously synthesize the basic building blocks of life (Miller 1953;Allen & Ponnamperuma 1967;Miller & Orgel 1974;Hargreaves et al 1977;Rao et al 1982;Rushdi & Simoneit 2001;Benner et al 2002;Ricardo et al 2004;Benner & Ricardo 2005;Wächtershäuser 2007). RNA has the ability to store genetic information and catalyse chemical reactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prelife catalysts and replicators

Ohtsuki

Nowak

2009

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Life is based on replication and evolution. But replication cannot be taken for granted. We must ask what there was prior to replication and evolution. How does evolution begin? We have proposed prelife as a generative system that produces information and diversity in the absence of replication. We model prelife as a binary soup of active monomers that form random polymers. 'Prevolutionary' dynamics can have mutation and selection prior to replication. Some sequences might have catalytic activity, thereby enhancing the rates of certain prelife reactions. We study the selection criteria for these prelife catalysts. Their catalytic efficiency must be above certain critical values. We find a maintenance threshold and an initiation threshold. The former is a linear function of sequence length, and the latter is an exponential function of sequence length. Therefore, it is extremely hard to select for prelife catalysts that have long sequences. We compare prelife catalysis with a simple model for replication. Assuming fast templatebased elongation reactions, we can show that replicators have selection thresholds that are independent of their sequence length. Our calculation demonstrates the efficiency of replication and provides an explanation of why replication was selected over other forms of prelife catalysis.

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A possible prebiotic synthesis of monocarboxylic acids

Cited by 40 publications

References 13 publications

From Self-Assembled Vesicles to Protocells

From Self-Assembled Vesicles to Protocells

Membrane growth can generate a transmembrane pH gradient in fatty acid vesicles

Prelife catalysts and replicators

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