A new report uncovers how hydrogen gas, the energy of the future, provided energy in the past, at the origin of life 4 billion years ago.
Metabolism
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Early-branching Cyanobacteria Up-regulate Superoxide Dismutase Activity Under A Simulated Early Earth Anoxic Atmosphere
The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis during the Archean (4-2.5 Ga), required the presence of complementary reducing pathways to maintain the cellular redox balance.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Extremely Acidic Proteomes And Metabolic Flexibility In Bacteria And Highly Diversified Archaea Thriving In Geothermal Chaotropic Brines
Few described archaeal, and fewer bacterial, lineages thrive at salt-saturating conditions, such as solar saltern crystallizers (salinity above 30%-w/v).
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Press Release
Photosynthetic Secrets Come To Light
Secrets of photosynthesis have been discovered at atomic level, shedding important new light on this plant super-power that greened the earth more than a billion years ago.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Scripps Research Scientists Reveal How The First Cells Could Have Formed On Earth
Roughly 4 billion years ago, Earth was developing conditions suitable for life. Origin-of-life scientists often wonder if the type of chemistry found on the early Earth was similar to what […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Decoding Conversations Between Microbes Of Hypersaline Environments Reveals Insights Into Origins Of Complex Life
Single-celled organisms, such as bacteria and archaea, have developed many ways to communicate with each other. For example, they might use tiny so-called extracellular vesicles (EVs) – membrane-enveloped packages smaller […]
![NifH2 cycle of Mo-nitrogenase. The NifH2 homodimer is shown in blue; it houses two nucleotide binding sites and a [4Fe-4S] redox active cluster. One catalytic half (NifDK) of the NifD2K2 heterotetramer is shown in yellow (K) and green (D); each catalytic half houses one [8Fe-7S] (Pcluster) and a [7Fe-9S-Mo-C-homocitrate] (FeMo-co) active site metallocluster. When NifH2 binds to NifDK an electron is transferred from the [4Fe-4S] cluster to FeMo-co mediated by P-cluster. NifH2 then hydrolyzes 2 ATP, dissociates with MgADP bound and an oxidized [4Fe4S] cluster. MgADP is then exchanged for MgATP and the [4Fe-4S] cluster is reduced, preparing NifH2 for binding and electron transfer. -- biorxiv.org](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-Origins-of-ATP.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report
The Origins Of ATP Dependence In Biological Nitrogen Fixation
Life depends on a conserved set of chemical energy currencies that are relics of early biochemistry. One of these is ATP, a molecule that, when paired with a divalent metal […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Genome-scale Metabolic Modelling Of Extremophiles And Its Applications In Astrobiological Environments
Metabolic modelling approaches have become the powerful tools in modern biology. These mathematical models are widely used to predict metabolic phenotypes of the organisms or communities of interest, and to […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Pantetheine, Vital For All Life, Likely Played A Role In Life’s Origin
A chemical compound essential to all living things has been synthesised in a lab in conditions that could have occurred on early Earth, suggesting it played a role at the […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
From the RNA-Peptide World: Prebiotic Reaction Conditions Compatible with Lipid Membranes for the Formation of Lipophilic Random Peptides in the Presence of Short Oligonucleotides, and More
Deciphering the origins of life on a molecular level includes unravelling the numerous interactions that could occur between the most important biomolecules being the lipids, peptides and nucleotides. They were […]