Metabolite Channeling in the Origin of Life

Edwards, Matthew R.

doi:10.1006/jtbi.1996.0070

Cited by 36 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…Edwards and others (see [57] for review) have put forward the hypothesis that on prebiotic Earth, when no enzyme or metabolic complexes were initially present, archetypal catalytic complexes were formed at the mineral surface (e.g., iron sulfide minerals) and biomolecules and catalysts were formed at specific sites relative to these complexes [57]. The evolution of metabolic pathways in this case would have been dictated by the relative positions of substrates and catalysts, where only closely juxtaposed species would have been allowed to interact [57]. Thus, the cell as a ''bag of enzymes'' probably never existed.…”

Section: Compartmentation Phenomenon and Vectorial Metabolismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated and Organized Cellular Energetic Systems: Theories of Cell Energetics, Compartmentation, and Metabolic Channeling

Saks

Monge

Anmann

et al. 2007

Molecular System Bioenergetics

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Bioenergetics as a part of biophysical chemistry and biophysics is a quantitative science that is based on several fundamental theories. The definition of energy itself is given by the first law of thermodynamics, and application of the second law of thermodynamics shows that living cells can function as open systems only where the internal order (low entropy state) is maintained due to increasing the entropy in the surrounding medium (Schrödinger's principle of negentropy). For this, the exchange of mass is needed, which gives rise to metabolism as the sum of catabolism and anabolism, and the free energy changes during catabolic reactions supply energy for all cellular work -osmotic, mechanical, and biochemical. The free energy changes during metabolic reactions obey the rules of chemical thermodynamics, which deals with Gibbs free energy of chemical reactions and with electrochemical potentials. For application of these theories to the integrated systems in vivo, complex cellular organization should be accounted for: macromolecular crowding; metabolic channeling and functional coupling mechanisms due to close and tight protein-protein interactions; compartmentation of the enzymes due to their attachment to the subcellular membranes or connection to the cytoskeleton; and both macro-and microcompartmentation of substrates and metabolites in the cells. Because of this, almost all processes important for cell life are localized within small areas of the cell, and for their integration effective systems of communication, including compartmentalized energy transfer systems, are required. These are represented in muscle cells by the phosphotransfer networks, mostly by the creatine kinase and adenylate kinase systems, whose alterations under ischemic conditions contribute significantly to acute ischemic contractile failure of the heart. 59 Molecular System Bioenergetics: Energy for Life. Edited by Valdur Saks

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Section: Compartmentation Phenomenon and Vectorial Metabolismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated and Organized Cellular Energetic Systems: Theories of Cell Energetics, Compartmentation, and Metabolic Channeling

Saks

Monge

Anmann

et al. 2007

Molecular System Bioenergetics

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“…Nonetheless, this deficiency does not necessarily exclude the possibility that these organisms can directly or indirectly derive energy from sunlight through inorganic mediators such as semiconducting minerals. Similar to the important role of metals and metal-containing minerals in the evolution and metabolism of phototrophic life cycles [5][6][7][8][9] , minerals may be important in delivering solar energy to non-phototrophic organisms. Common semiconducting minerals, such as rutile (TiO 2 ), sphalerite (ZnS) and goethite (FeOOH), are solar responsive photocatalysts in nature [10][11][12] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Growth of non-phototrophic microorganisms using solar energy through mineral photocatalysis

Jin

et al. 2012

Nat Commun

140

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“…This mechanism is postulated to be related to tRNA-like molecules on which, this theory maintains, occurred the biosynthetic transformations between the precursor amino acid and the product one (Wong 1975(Wong , 1976(Wong , 1988Wachtershauser 1988;Danchin 1989;de Duve 1991;Di Giulio 1994, 1999, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008aEdwards 1996). Therefore, the main prediction of the theory of the coevolution is that might be identified biosynthetic pathways between amino acids and transforming the precursor amino acids into their product amino acids.…”

Section: The Coevolution Theory Of the Origin Of The Genetic Codementioning

confidence: 91%

“…As these precursor amino acids evolved other amino acids-the products-part or all of codon domain of precursor amino acids was ceded to the product amino acids (Wong 1975;Di Giulio 2008a). Today, there is widespread evidence in favour of the coevolution theory (Dillon 1973;Wong 1975Wong , 1976Wong , 1980Wong , 1981Wong , 1988Wong , 2005Jurka and Smith 1987;Wachtershauser 1988;Miseta 1989;Taylor and Coates 1989;Di Giulio 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000a, b, 2001a, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008aDi Giulio and Medugno 2000;Danchin 1989;de Duve 1991;Morowitz 1992;Edwards 1996;Gaston et al 2011b).…”

Section: The Coevolution Theory Of the Origin Of The Genetic Codementioning

confidence: 95%

On How Many Fundamental Kinds of Cells are Present on Earth: Looking for Phylogenetic Traits that Would Allow the Identification of the Primary Lines of Descent

Giulio

2014

J Mol Evol

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The phylogenetic analyses as far as the identification of the number of domains of life is concerned have not reached a clear conclusion. In the attempt to improve this circumstance, I introduce the concept that the amino acids codified in the genetic code might be of markers with outstanding phylogenetic power. In particular, I hypothesise the existence of a biosphere populated, for instance, by three groups of organisms having different genetic codes because codifying at least a different amino acid. Evidently, these amino acids would mark the proteins that are present in the three groups of organisms in an unambiguous way. Therefore, in essence, this mark would not be other than the one that we usually try to make in the phylogenetic analyses in which we transform the protein sequences in phylogenetic trees, for the purpose to identify, for example, the domains of life. Indeed, this mark would allow to classify proteins without performing phylogenetic analyses because proteins belonging to a group of organisms would be recognisable as marked in a natural way by at least a different amino acid among the diverse groups of organisms. This conceptualisation answers the question of how many fundamental kinds of cells have evolved from the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA), as the genetic code has unique proprieties that make the codified amino acids excellent phylogenetic markers. The presence of the formyl-methionine only in proteins of bacteria would mark them and would identify these as domain of life. On the other hand, the presence of pyrrolysine in the genetic code of the euryarchaeota would identify them such as another fundamental kind of cell evolved from the LUCA. Overall, the phylogenetic distribution of formyl-methionine and pyrrolysine would identify at least two domains of life--Bacteria and Archaea--but their number might be actually four; that is to say, Bacteria, Euryarchaeota, archeobacteria that are not euryarchaeota and Eukarya. The usually accepted domains of life represented by Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya are not compatible with the phylogenetic distribution of these two amino acids and therefore this last classification might be mistaken.

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Metabolite Channeling in the Origin of Life

Cited by 36 publications

References 0 publications

Integrated and Organized Cellular Energetic Systems: Theories of Cell Energetics, Compartmentation, and Metabolic Channeling

Integrated and Organized Cellular Energetic Systems: Theories of Cell Energetics, Compartmentation, and Metabolic Channeling

Growth of non-phototrophic microorganisms using solar energy through mineral photocatalysis

On How Many Fundamental Kinds of Cells are Present on Earth: Looking for Phylogenetic Traits that Would Allow the Identification of the Primary Lines of Descent

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