Fundamental molecules of life are pigments which arose and co-evolved as a response to the thermodynamic imperative of dissipating the prevailing solar spectrum

Michaelian, K.; Simeonov, Aleksandar

doi:10.5194/bg-12-4913-2015

Cited by 51 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 220 publications

(233 reference statements)

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“…4. Proliferation of pigments by the same mechanism on Earth has led to the proliferation of the fundamental molecules of life, almost all of which dissipate in the UV-C range, exactly over a UV-C window which existed in Earth's atmosphere during the Archean (Michaelian 2013, Michaelian andSimeonov, 2015).…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic Explanation for the Cosmic Ubiquity of Organic Pigments

Michaelian¹,

Simeonov²

2017

Astrobiol Outreach

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There is increasingly more evidence being accumulated for the occurrence of large amounts of organic material in the cosmos, particularly in the form of aromatic compounds. These molecules can be found on the surface of Earth and Mars, in the atmospheres of the larger planets and on many of their satellites, on asteroids, comets, meteorites, the atmospheres of red giant stars, interstellar nebulae, and in the spiral arms of galaxies. Many of these environments are expected to be of low temperature and pressure, implying that the Gibbs free energy for the formation of these complex molecules should be positive and large, suggesting that their existence could only be attributed to non-equilibrium thermodynamic processes. In this article we first review the evidence for the abundance of these molecules in the cosmos and then describe how the ubiquity can be explained from within the framework of non-equilibrium thermodynamics on the basis of the catalytic properties of these pigment molecules in dissipating photons of the ultraviolet and visible emission spectra of neighboring stars, leading to greater local entropy production. A relation between the maximum wavelength of absorption of these organic pigments and the corresponding stellar photon environment, provides a guide to determining which aromatic compounds are most probable in a given stellar neighborhood, a postulate that can be verified on Earth. It is suggested that at least some of the baryonic dark matter may be associated with these molecules which emit in the extreme infrared with many, but weak, emission lines, thus so far escaping detection. This thermodynamic explanation for the ubiquity of these organic molecules also has relevance to the possibility of life, both as we know it, and as we may not know it, throughout the universe.Comment: 23 pages, no figure

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Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic Explanation for the Cosmic Ubiquity of Organic Pigments

Michaelian¹,

Simeonov²

2017

Astrobiol Outreach

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“…Before the emergence of the ozone layer, cells were exposed to strong solar UV radiations [206][207][208]. By inducing genomic instability, UV favored the emergence of genomes that produce pigments absorbing UV-damaging radiations, which would give these genomes a greater probability to be "accurately" reproduced [206][207][208] (Figure 5C, 1).…”

Section: From Molecular Innovations To Emergence Of New Properties Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physicochemical Foundations of Life that Direct Evolution: Chance and Natural Selection are not Evolutionary Driving Forces

Auboeuf

2020

Life

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The current framework of evolutionary theory postulates that evolution relies on random mutations generating a diversity of phenotypes on which natural selection acts. This framework was established using a top-down approach as it originated from Darwinism, which is based on observations made of complex multicellular organisms and, then, modified to fit a DNA-centric view. In this article, it is argued that based on a bottom-up approach starting from the physicochemical properties of nucleic and amino acid polymers, we should reject the facts that (i) natural selection plays a dominant role in evolution and (ii) the probability of mutations is independent of the generated phenotype. It is shown that the adaptation of a phenotype to an environment does not correspond to organism fitness, but rather corresponds to maintaining the genome stability and integrity. In a stable environment, the phenotype maintains the stability of its originating genome and both (genome and phenotype) are reproduced identically. In an unstable environment (i.e., corresponding to variations in physicochemical parameters above a physiological range), the phenotype no longer maintains the stability of its originating genome, but instead influences its variations. Indeed, environment- and cellular-dependent physicochemical parameters define the probability of mutations in terms of frequency, nature, and location in a genome. Evolution is non-deterministic because it relies on probabilistic physicochemical rules, and evolution is driven by a bidirectional interplay between genome and phenotype in which the phenotype ensures the stability of its originating genome in a cellular and environmental physicochemical parameter-depending manner.

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“…Given the ubiquity of high energy photons arriving at the surface of planets, and the large number of photochemical reaction pathways available compared with thermal reactions starting from the electronic ground state, one would expect microscopic dissipative structuring to be common place. The fundamental molecules of life (those molecules found in all three domains of life) and their associations in polymers or other complexes are examples of microscopic dissipative structuring which occurred under the Archean UV-C photon potential (Michaelian, 2009;2011;2013;Michaelian and Simeonov, 2015;2017).…”

Section: The Fundamental Molecules Of Life Are Microscopic Dissipativmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The font size of the letter roughly indicates the relative size of the molar extinction coefficient of the indicated fundamental molecule (pigment). Image credit; adapted from (Michaelian and Simeonov, 2015).…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even with such a formidable array of evolved pigment complexes, the wavelength integrated flux of photons from the Sun at Earth's surface is so copious (∼10²² m⁻²s⁻¹) that only a portion of the solar photons arriving at Earth's surface are absorbed and dissipated by today's evolved pigments in plants, diatoms and cyanobacteria (Michaelian and Simeonov, 2015). The rest of the solar photons, principally those with wavelength longer than that corresponding to the red-edge (∼700 nm), are simply reflected with practically no energy dissipation.…”

Section: Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microscopic Dissipative Structuring at the Origin of Life

Michaelian

2017

Preprint

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Fundamental molecules of life are suggested to be formed, proliferated, and evolved through microscopic dissipative structuring and autocatalytic replication under the UV-C solar spectrum prevalent at Earth's surface throughout the Archean. Evidence is given in the numerous salient characteristics of these, including their strong absorption in this spectral region, their rapid nonradiative decay through an inherent conical intersection, UV-C activation (phos-phorylation) of nucleotides, and UV-C induced denaturing of double helix RNA and DNA. The examples of the dissipative structuring and dissipative proliferation of the purines and of single strand DNA are given. This provides a physical-chemical foundation for understanding the origin and evolution of life.

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Fundamental molecules of life are pigments which arose and co-evolved as a response to the thermodynamic imperative of dissipating the prevailing solar spectrum

Cited by 51 publications

References 220 publications

Thermodynamic Explanation for the Cosmic Ubiquity of Organic Pigments

Thermodynamic Explanation for the Cosmic Ubiquity of Organic Pigments

Physicochemical Foundations of Life that Direct Evolution: Chance and Natural Selection are not Evolutionary Driving Forces

Microscopic Dissipative Structuring at the Origin of Life

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