Adsorption of small biological molecules on silica from diluted aqueous solutions: quantitative characterization and implications to the Bernal's hypothesis

Size-Dependent Affinity of Glycine and Its Short Oligomers to Pyrite Surface: A Model for Prebiotic Accumulation of Amino Acid Oligomers on a Mineral Surface

The interaction strength of progressively longer oligomers of glycine, (Gly), di-Gly, tri-Gly, and penta-Gly, with a natural pyrite surface was directly measured using the force mode of an atomic force microscope (AFM). In recent years, selective activation of abiotically formed amino acids on mineral surfaces, especially that of pyrite, has been proposed as an important step in many origins of life scenarios. To investigate such notions, we used AFM-based force measurements to probe possible non-covalent interactions between pyrite and amino acids, starting from the simplest amino acid, Gly. Although Gly itself interacted with the pyrite surface only weakly, progressively larger unbinding forces and binding frequencies were obtained using oligomers from di-Gly to penta-Gly. In addition to an expected increase of the configurational entropy and size-dependent van der Waals force, the increasing number of polar peptide bonds, among others, may be responsible for this observation. The effect of chain length was also investigated by performing similar experiments using l-lysine vs. poly-l-lysine (PLL), and l-glutamic acid vs. poly-l-glutamic acid. The results suggest that longer oligomers/polymers of amino acids can be preferentially adsorbed on pyrite surfaces.

Glycine Polymerization on Oxide Minerals

It has long been suggested that mineral surfaces played an important role in peptide bond formation on the primitive Earth. However, it remains unclear which mineral species was key to the prebiotic processes. This is because great discrepancies exist among the reported catalytic efficiencies of minerals for amino acid polymerizations, owing to mutually different experimental conditions. This study examined polymerization of glycine (Gly) on nine oxide minerals (amorphous silica, quartz, α-alumina and γ-alumina, anatase, rutile, hematite, magnetite, and forsterite) using identical preparation, heating, and analytical procedures. Results showed that a rutile surface is the most effective site for Gly polymerization in terms of both amounts and lengths of Gly polymers synthesized. The catalytic efficiency decreased as rutile > anatase > γ-alumina > forsterite > α- alumina > magnetite > hematite > quartz > amorphous silica. Based on reported molecular-level information for adsorption of Gly on these minerals, polymerization activation was inferred to have arisen from deprotonation of the NH3+ group of adsorbed Gly to the nucleophilic NH2 group, and from withdrawal of electron density from the carboxyl carbon to the surface metal ions. The orientation of adsorbed Gly on minerals is also a factor influencing the Gly reactivity. The examination of Gly-mineral interactions under identical experimental conditions has enabled the direct comparison of various minerals' catalytic efficiencies and has made discussion of polymerization mechanisms and their relative influences possible Further systematic investigations using the approach reported herein (which are expected to be fruitful) combined with future microscopic surface analyses will elucidate the role of minerals in the process of abiotic peptide bond formation.

The combination of salt induced peptide formation reaction and clay catalysis: a way to higher peptides under primitive earth conditions

Two reactions with suggested prebiotic relevance for peptide evolution, the salt induced peptide formation reaction and the peptide chain elongation/stabilization on clay minerals have been combined in experimental series starting from dipeptides and dipeptide/amino acid mixtures. The results show that both reactions can take place simultaneously in the same reaction environment and that the presence of mineral catalysts favours the formation of higher oligopeptides. These findings lend further support to the relevance of these reactions for peptide evolution on the primitive earth. The detailed effects of the specific clay mineral depend both on the nature of the mineral and the reactants in solution.

Biochemical evolution. I. Polymerization On internal, organophilic silica surfaces of dealuminated zeolites and feldspars

Catalysis at mineral surfaces might generate replicating biopolymers from simple chemicals supplied by meteorites, volcanic gases, and photochemical gas reactions. Many ideas are implausible in detail because the proposed mineral surfaces strongly prefer water and other ionic species to organic ones. The molecular sieve silicalite (Union Carbide; = Al-free Mobil ZSM-5 zeolite) has a three-dimensional, 10-ring channel system whose electrically neutral Si-O surface strongly adsorbs organic species over water. Three -O-Si tetrahedral bonds lie in the surface, and the fourth Si-O points inwards. In contrast, the outward Si-OH of simple quartz and feldspar crystals generates their ionic organophobicity. The ZSM-5-type zeolite mutinaite occurs in Antarctica with boggsite and tschernichite (Al-analog of Mobil Beta). Archean mutinaite might have become de-aluminated toward silicalite during hot/cold/wet/dry cycles. Catalytic activity of silicalite increases linearly with Al-OH substitution for Si, and Al atoms tend to avoid each other. Adjacent organophilic and catalytic Al-OH regions in nanometer channels might have scavenged organic species for catalytic assembly into specific polymers protected from prompt photochemical destruction. Polymer migration along weathered silicic surfaces of micrometer-wide channels of feldspars might have led to assembly of replicating catalytic biomolecules and perhaps primitive cellular organisms. Silica-rich volcanic glasses should have been abundant on the early Earth, ready for crystallization into zeolites and feldspars, as in present continental basins. Abundant chert from weakly metamorphosed Archaean rocks might retain microscopic clues to the proposed mineral adsorbent/catalysts. Other framework silicas are possible, including ones with laevo/dextro one-dimensional channels. Organic molecules, transition-metal ions, and P occur inside modern feldspars.