Life Began When Evolution Began: A Lipidic Vesicle-Based Scenario

Tessera, Marc

doi:10.1007/s11084-009-9175-4

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…However, non-clay armored lipid vesicles cannot evolve. Tessera [22] looks at the possibility of evolving lipid vesicles as a key to the origin of life on Earth. If the clay armor is montmorillionite, the catalytic properties of this clay could permit evolutionary processes to take place leading to the origin of protolife.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife

Green

2011

IJMS

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Water ice has been discovered on the moon by radar backscatter at the North Pole and by spectrometry at the South Pole in the Cabeus crater with an extrapolated volume for both poles of conservatively 109 metric tons. Various exogenic and endogenic sources of this water have been proposed. This paper focuses on endogenic water sources by fumaroles and hot springs in shadowed polar craters. A survey of theoretical and morphological details supports a volcanic model. Release of water and other constituents by defluidization over geological time was intensified in the Hadean Eon (c.a. 4600 to 4000 My). Intensification factors include higher heat flow by now-extinct radionuclides, tidal flexing and higher core temperatures. Lesser gravity would promote deeper bubble nucleation in lunar magmas, slower rise rates of gases and enhanced subsidence of lunar caldera floors. Hadean volcanism would likely have been more intense and regional in nature as opposed to suture-controlled location of calderas in Phanerozoic Benioff-style subduction environments. Seventy-seven morphological, remote sensing and return sample features were categorized into five categories ranging from a volcano-tectonic origin only to impact origin only. Scores for the most logical scenario were 69 to eight in favor of lunar volcanism. Ingredients in the Cabeus plume analysis showed many volcanic fluids and their derivatives plus a large amount of mercury. Mercury-rich fumaroles are well documented on Earth and are virtually absent in cometary gases and solids. There are no mercury anomalies in terrestrial impact craters. Volcanic fluids and their derivatives in lunar shadow can theoretically evolve into protolife. Energy for this evolution can be provided by vent flow charging intensified in the lunar Hadean and by charge separation on freezing fumarolic fluids in shadow. Fischer-Tropsch reactions on hydrothermal clays can yield lipids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and amino acids. Soluble polyphosphates are available in volcanic fluids as well as vital catalysts such as tungsten. We conclude that the high volume of polar water resources supports the likelihood of lunar volcanism and that lunar volcanism supports the likelihood of protolife.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These clay-armored vesicles are semi-permeable. A major highlight of the clay armored vesicles is their robustness to withstand the turbulence of fumarolic environments (Figure 7) (Tessera) [22]. …”

Section: Part Two—water Resources and Protolifementioning

confidence: 99%

Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife

Green

2011

IJMS

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“…These open far-from-equilibrium systems can maintain themselves far-from-equilibrium because they are able to use the matter and energy supplied by the favourable local environment; (2) The systems must be able to self-replicate; (3) The systems must be capable of acquiring heritable structure/function properties that are relatively independent from the local environment, i.e. , the fact that they belong to a specific lineage should not depend on the nature of the nutriments they receive from the local environment [9]. This last condition is required for the emergence of distinct lineages allowing Darwinian natural selection.…”

Section: The Primordial Ancestor and The Conditions For Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This last condition is required for the emergence of distinct lineages allowing Darwinian natural selection. I do not mention a possible fourth condition that I mentioned in a previous article and that corresponds to a form of mutation: “These properties may change sporadically while remaining transmissible to the descendants” [9]. Actually this fourth condition is not required to allow room for selection if the potential of the systems is very large for the emergence of new distinct lineages.…”

Section: The Primordial Ancestor and The Conditions For Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A first approach could be to study a large variety of vesicles with a bilayer membrane composed of a mixture of various amphiphilic and hydrophobic compounds [9]. Ideally, these latter compounds should be produced in conditions close to those of the hydrothermal vents such as the serpentinite-hosted Lost City Hydrothermal Field (see thereafter).…”

Section: A Plausible Solution Within a Lipidic Vesicle-based Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Origin of Evolution versus Origin of Life: A Shift of Paradigm

Tessera¹

2011

IJMS

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The question of the primordial ancestor must be approached through the search for the origin of evolution, not through the search for the origin of life. There is a major issue with the concept of life because it is impossible to define, thus is not a scientific but a metaphysical concept. On the contrary, evolution may be defined by as few as three conditions. These do not necessarily involve biopolymers. However, such an approach must give clues to explain the emergence of distinct lineages to allow Darwinian natural selection. A plausible solution exists within an autotrophic lipidic vesicle-based model that is presented. The model requires the existence of hydrothermal sites such as the Lost City Hydrothermal Field leading to specific constraints. For this reason Mars and Europa may be questioned as possible cradles of evolution. If we replace the search for the origin of life by the one for the origin of evolution our priority first is to find a consensus on the minimal conditions that would allow evolution to emerge and persist anywhere in the universe.

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Neuroendocrine Regulation of Hydromineral Homeostasis

Mecawi

Ruginsk

Elias

et al. 2015

Comprehensive Physiology

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Since the crucial evolutionary change from an aqueous to a terrestrial environment, all living organisms address the primordial task of equilibrating the ingestion/production of water and electrolytes (primarily sodium) with their excretion. In mammals, the final route for the excretion of these elements is mainly through the kidneys, which can eliminate concentrated or diluted urine according to the requirements. Despite their primary role in homeostasis, the kidneys are not able to recover water and solutes lost through other systems. Therefore, the selective stimulation or inhibition of motivational and locomotor behavior becomes essential to initiate the search and acquisition of water and/or sodium from the environment. Indeed, imbalances affecting the osmolality and volume of body fluids are dramatic challenges to the maintenance of hydromineral homeostasis. In addition to behavioral changes, which are integrated in the central nervous system, most of the systemic responses recruited to restore hydroelectrolytic balance are accomplished by coordinated actions of the cardiovascular, autonomic and endocrine systems, which determine the appropriate renal responses. The activation of sequential and redundant mechanisms (involving local and systemic factors) produces accurate and self-limited effector responses. From a physiological point of view, understanding the mechanisms underlying water and sodium balance is intriguing and of great interest for the biomedical sciences. Therefore, the present review will address the biophysical, evolutionary and historical perspectives concerning the integrative neuroendocrine control of hydromineral balance, focusing on the major neural and endocrine systems implicated in the control of water and sodium balance.

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Life Began When Evolution Began: A Lipidic Vesicle-Based Scenario

Cited by 17 publications

References 23 publications

Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife

Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife

Origin of Evolution versus Origin of Life: A Shift of Paradigm

Neuroendocrine Regulation of Hydromineral Homeostasis

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