The history of life at hydrothermal vents

Georgieva, Magdalena N.; Little, Crispin T. S.; Масленников, В. В.; Glover, Adrian G.; Ayupova, N. R.; Herrington, Richard

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103602

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 128 publications

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“…In our study, we are confident that the pyrite we analyzed formed rapidly, preserving the hydrothermal vent fossils without later recrystallization or mineral replacement. As a result, the pyrite δ 34 S values that we have recorded here have not been affected by diagenesis and thus are likely to reflect primary formation conditions (Georgieva et al, 2015(Georgieva et al, , 2021. While there are emerging new studies on pyrite formation and precipitation pathways and the various controls on its sulfur isotope composition at vents (e.g., Findlay et al, 2019), studies of how these processes interact with biological structures are rare.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Recent research has shown that that hydrothermal vents are important preservational settings where mineral precipitation can readily fossilize resistant biological structures (from those made by macrofauna to microbes), at times with very fine detail and at sub-micron scales (Georgieva et al, 2015(Georgieva et al, , 2018(Georgieva et al, , 2021Maginn et al, 2002;Maslennikov et al, 2017). In addition, hydrocarbons of microbial origin may be preserved alongside vent sulfides for hundreds of millions of years (Blumenberg et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This deposit exhibits intricate preservation of hydrothermal vents that likely formed within a back‐arc basin (Herrington, Puchkov, et al, 2005). Vent chimneys and the most diverse ancient vent community are preserved as part of this deposit (Georgieva et al, 2021; Herrington et al, 1998), which has been extensively discussed in scientific literature due to the important insights it provides into ancient hydrothermal vent environments (Ayupova et al, 2017; Buschmann & Maslennikov, 2006; Georgieva et al, 2021; Herrington et al, 1998; Herrington, Maslennikov, et al, 2005; Kuznetsov et al, 1993; Little et al, 1997, 1999; Maslennikov et al, 2017).…”

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hydrothermal vents in the modern deep ocean are populated by remarkable communities of highly specialized animals, dependent on symbioses with chemosynthetic prokaryotes for their nutrition. These environments, which have existed on Earth since the Hadean (Martin et al, 2008; Russell & Hall, 1997), are also known to have been important habitats throughout geological history as evidenced by their fossil record (Campbell, 2006; Georgieva et al, 2021; Little et al, 1998). Microbes capable of oxidizing sulfide are particularly crucial to primary production within modern vent environments (Sievert et al, 2007; Sievert & Vetriani, 2012), and symbioses between metazoans and microbes involved in sulfur cycling are integral to the ability of animals to colonize and thrive at vents (Dubilier et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sulfur isotopes of hydrothermal vent fossils and insights into microbial sulfur cycling within a lower Paleozoic (Ordovician‐early Silurian) vent community

Georgieva,

Little,

Herrington

et al. 2022

Geobiology

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Symbioses between metazoans and microbes involved in sulfur cycling are integral to the ability of animals to thrive within deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments; the development of such interactions is regarded as a key adaptation in enabling animals to successfully colonize vents. Microbes often colonize the surfaces of vent animals and, remarkably, these associations can also be observed intricately preserved by pyrite in the fossil record of vent environments, stretching back to the lower Paleozoic (Ordovician-early Silurian). In non-vent environments, sulfur isotopes are often employed to investigate the metabolic strategies of both modern and fossil organisms, as certain metabolic pathways of microbes, notably sulfate reduction, can produce large sulfur isotope fractionations. However, the sulfur isotopes of vent fossils, both ancient and recently mineralized, have seldom been explored, and it is not known if

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sulfur isotopes of hydrothermal vent fossils and insights into microbial sulfur cycling within a lower Paleozoic (Ordovician‐early Silurian) vent community

Georgieva,

Little,

Herrington

et al. 2022

Geobiology

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“…The sheath exteriors can accumulate a flocculent Fe-oxyhydroxide coating up to several tens of micrometres thick (Schmidt et al 2014). These microstructures are easily preserved in a silica matrix (chert) or in calcium carbonate and have a putative fossil record reaching back over million-to billion-year timescales (Dodd et al 2017;Georgieva et al 2021), although some of these purported fossils may be abiotic (Hopkinson et al 1998;McMahon 2019;Johannessen et al 2020;McMahon et al 2021). Other Fe-oxidizing bacteria (e.g.…”

Section: Classical Chemical Gardensmentioning

confidence: 99%

False biosignatures on Mars: anticipating ambiguity

McMahon

Cosmidis

2021

JGS

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It is often acknowledged that the search for life on Mars might produce false positive results, particularly via the detection of objects, patterns or substances that resemble the products of life in some way but are not biogenic. The success of major current and forthcoming rover missions now calls for significant efforts to mitigate this risk. Here, we review known processes that could have generated false biosignatures on early Mars. These examples are known largely from serendipitous discoveries rather than systematic research and remain poorly understood; they probably represent only a small subset of relevant phenomena. These phenomena tend to be driven by kinetic processes far from thermodynamic equilibrium, often in the presence of liquid water and organic matter, conditions similar to those that can actually give rise to, and support, life. We propose that strategies for assessing candidate biosignatures on Mars could be improved by new knowledge on the physics and chemistry of abiotic self-organization in geological systems. We conclude by calling for new interdisciplinary research to determine how false biosignatures may arise, focusing on geological materials, conditions and spatiotemporal scales relevant to the detection of life on Mars, as well as the early Earth and other planetary bodies.Thematic collection: This article is part of the Astrobiology: Perspectives from the Geology of Earth and the Solar System collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/astrobiology-perspectives-from-geology-of-earth-and-solar-system

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Theoretical perspective on synthetic man‐made life: Learning from the origin of life

Peng,

Zhang,

Wang

et al. 2023

Quant. Biol.

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Creating a man‐made life in the laboratory is one of life science’s most intriguing yet challenging problems. Advances in synthetic biology and related theories, particularly those related to the origin of life, have laid the groundwork for further exploration and understanding in this field of artificial life or man‐made life. But there remains a wealth of quantitative mathematical models and tools that have yet to be applied to this area. In this paper, we review the two main approaches often employed in the field of man‐made life: the top‐down approach that reduces the complexity of extant and existing living systems and the bottom‐up approach that integrates well‐defined components, by introducing the theoretical basis, recent advances, and their limitations. We then argue for another possible approach, namely “bottom‐up from the origin of life”: Starting with the establishment of autocatalytic chemical reaction networks that employ physical boundaries as the initial compartments, then designing directed evolutionary systems, with the expectation that independent compartments will eventually emerge so that the system becomes free‐living. This approach is actually analogous to the process of how life originated. With this paper, we aim to stimulate the interest of synthetic biologists and experimentalists to consider a more theoretical perspective, and to promote the communication between the origin of life community and the synthetic man‐made life community.

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The history of life at hydrothermal vents

Cited by 27 publications

References 128 publications

Sulfur isotopes of hydrothermal vent fossils and insights into microbial sulfur cycling within a lower Paleozoic (Ordovician‐early Silurian) vent community

Sulfur isotopes of hydrothermal vent fossils and insights into microbial sulfur cycling within a lower Paleozoic (Ordovician‐early Silurian) vent community

False biosignatures on Mars: anticipating ambiguity

Theoretical perspective on synthetic man‐made life: Learning from the origin of life

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