Sources of Nitrogen-, Sulfur-, and Phosphorus-Containing Feedstocks for Prebiotic Chemistry in the Planetary Environment

Todd, Zoe R.

doi:10.3390/life12081268

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 260 publications

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“…Among the ∼300 molecules detected in space, 33 are sulfurbearing species 1 , which makes sulfur an important and ubiquitous constituent of the interstellar medium (ISM). Furthermore, sulfur is a biogenic element and as such it is a fundamental constituent of life on Earth (Todd 2022). In spite of its importance, there are many unknowns in the chemical evolution of sulfur along the lifecycle of matter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First detection of the HSO radical in space

Marcelino¹,

Puzzarini²,

Agúndez³

et al. 2023

A&A

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We report the discovery of HSO towards several cold dark clouds. The detection is confirmed by the observation of the fine and hyperfine components of two rotational transitions in the protostellar core B1-b, using the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m telescopes. Furthermore, all the fine and hyperfine components of its fundamental transition 10, 1 − 00, 0 at 39 GHz were also detected toward the cyanopolyyne peak of TMC-1. The measured frequencies were used to improve the molecular constants and predict more accurate line frequencies. We also detected the strongest hyperfine component of the 10, 1 − 00, 0 transition of HSO toward the cold dark clouds L183, L483, L1495B, L1527, and Lupus-1A. The HSO column densities were obtained using LTE models that reproduce the observed spectra. The rotational temperature was constrained to 4.5 K in B1-b and TMC-1 using the available Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m data. The obtained column densities range between 7.0×1010 cm−2 and 2.9×1011 cm−2, resulting in abundances in the range of (1.4–7.0) × 10−12 relative to H2. Our observations show that HSO is widespread in cold dense cores. However, more observations, together with a detailed comparison with other S-bearing species, are needed to constrain the chemical production mechanisms of HSO, which are not considered in current models.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First detection of the HSO radical in space

Marcelino¹,

Puzzarini²,

Agúndez³

et al. 2023

A&A

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“…. (or CHONPS)" [36]. Indeed, per dry weight of living matter, 96% are organic molecules and 3% are light-atomic-weight ions such as sodium, potassium, chloride etc.…”

Section: Non-living Systems Can Display Entropy-decreasing Features; ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Winding Road from Origin to Emergence (of Life)

Nitschke,

Farr,

Gaudu

et al. 2024

Life

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Humanity’s strive to understand why and how life appeared on planet Earth dates back to prehistoric times. At the beginning of the 19th century, empirical biology started to tackle this question yielding both Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and the paradigm that the crucial trigger putting life on its tracks was the appearance of organic molecules. In parallel to these developments in the biological sciences, physics and physical chemistry saw the fundamental laws of thermodynamics being unraveled. Towards the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century, the tensions between thermodynamics and the “organic-molecules-paradigm” became increasingly difficult to ignore, culminating in Erwin Schrödinger’s 1944 formulation of a thermodynamics-compliant vision of life and, consequently, the prerequisites for its appearance. We will first review the major milestones over the last 200 years in the biological and the physical sciences, relevant to making sense of life and its origins and then discuss the more recent reappraisal of the relative importance of metal ions vs. organic molecules in performing the essential processes of a living cell. Based on this reassessment and the modern understanding of biological free energy conversion (aka bioenergetics), we consider that scenarios wherein life emerges from an abiotic chemiosmotic process are both thermodynamics-compliant and the most parsimonious proposed so far.

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“…S9). As these anionic ions probably existed in the primordial cells and on the early Earth (22)(23)(24)(25), they might have served as chemical chaperones to enhance the folding of ancient proteins and could have compensated for the low stabilities of evolutionary intermediates during the folding transition (Supplemental text 3, Figs. S7-9).…”

Section: Dual-folding Of Mk2h_dmilpys Induced By Small Ligandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Missing-link fold reveals the evolutionary pathway between RNA polymerase and ribosomal proteins

Yagi

Tagami

2023

Preprint

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Numerous molecular machines are required to drive the central dogma of molecular biology. However, the means by which such numerous proteins emerged in the early evolutionary stage of life remains enigmatic. Many of them possess small β-barrel folds with different topologies, represented by DPBB conserved in DNA and RNA polymerases, and RIFT, OB, and SH3 in ribosomal proteins. Here, we discovered that the previously reconstructed ancient DPBB sequence could also adopt a novel β-barrel fold named DZBB, which shares similarities with RIFT and OB. Indeed, DZBB could be transformed into them through simple engineering experiments. Furthermore, the OB designs could be converted into SH3 by circular-permutation. These results indicate that these β-barrels diversified quickly from a common ancestor at the beginning of the central dogma evolution.

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Sources of Nitrogen-, Sulfur-, and Phosphorus-Containing Feedstocks for Prebiotic Chemistry in the Planetary Environment

Cited by 8 publications

References 260 publications

First detection of the HSO radical in space

First detection of the HSO radical in space

The Winding Road from Origin to Emergence (of Life)

Missing-link fold reveals the evolutionary pathway between RNA polymerase and ribosomal proteins

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