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Barat A, Powner MW. Spontaneous Peptide Ligation Mediated by Cysteamine. JACS AU 2024; 4:1752-1757. [PMID: 38818061 PMCID: PMC11134366 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.4c00243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
The fundamental and universal nature of life's exploitation of peptides suggests they must have played a vital role during the onset of life, but their spontaneous chemoselective synthesis in water remains unknown. Aminonitriles (1) are widely accepted as prebiotic precursors of both amino acids and peptides, but they do not spontaneously polymerize in water to yield peptides. Here, we demonstrate that the simple prebiotically plausible aminothiol, cysteamine (5), participates in Strecker chemistry to furnish β-mercaptoethyl-α-aminonitriles (8) and β-mercaptoethyl-amino acids (16), which are predisposed to spontaneously form peptides in water. Intramolecular thiol catalyzed ligation is faster, higher-yielding, and more α-selective than previously reported prebiotic peptide ligation chemistries, enabling, for example, the highly regioselective α-ligation of Asp- and Glu-dinitriles in quantitative yields. Our findings suggest that cysteamine (5), the thiol bearing moiety of the universal thiol cofactor coenzyme A, may have played an important role in the selective chemical synthesis of prebiotic α-peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abid Barat
- Department
of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew W. Powner
- Department
of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, United Kingdom
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2
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Gull M, Feng T, Smith B, Calcul L, Pasek MA. Prebiotic Syntheses of Organophosphorus Compounds from Reduced Source of Phosphorus in Non-Aqueous Solvents. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:2134. [PMID: 38004274 PMCID: PMC10672063 DOI: 10.3390/life13112134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Reduced-oxidation-state phosphorus (reduced P, hereafter) compounds were likely available on the early Earth via meteorites or through various geologic processes. Due to their reactivity and high solubility, these compounds could have played a significant role in the origin of various organophosphorus compounds of biochemical significance. In the present work, we study the reactions between reduced P compounds and their oxidation products, with the three nucleosides (uridine, adenosine, and cytidine), with organic alcohols (glycerol and ethanolamine), and with the tertiary ammonium organic compound, choline chloride. These reactions were studied in the non-aqueous solvent formamide and in a semi-aqueous solvent comprised of urea: ammonium formate: water (UAFW, hereafter) at temperatures of 55-68 °C. The inorganic P compounds generated through Fenton chemistry readily dissolve in the non-aqueous and semi-aqueous solvents and react with organics to form organophosphites and organophosphates, including those which are identified as phosphate diesters. This dual approach (1) use of non-aqueous and semi-aqueous solvents and (2) use of a reactive inorganic P source to promote phosphorylation and phosphonylation reactions of organics readily promoted anhydrous chemistry and condensation reactions, without requiring any additive, catalyst, or other promoting agent under mild heating conditions. We also present a comparative study of the release of P from various prebiotically relevant phosphate minerals and phosphite salts (e.g., vivianite, apatite, and phosphites of iron and calcium) into formamide and UAFW. These results have direct implications for the origin of biological P compounds from non-aqueous solvents of prebiotic provenance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maheen Gull
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. NES 204, Tampa, FL 33584, USA; (T.F.); (M.A.P.)
| | - Tian Feng
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. NES 204, Tampa, FL 33584, USA; (T.F.); (M.A.P.)
| | - Benjamin Smith
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. CHE 205, Tampa, FL 33620, USA; (L.C.); (B.S.)
| | - Laurent Calcul
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. CHE 205, Tampa, FL 33620, USA; (L.C.); (B.S.)
| | - Matthew A. Pasek
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. NES 204, Tampa, FL 33584, USA; (T.F.); (M.A.P.)
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3
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Gaylor MO, Miro P, Vlaisavljevich B, Kondage AAS, Barge LM, Omran A, Videau P, Swenson VA, Leinen LJ, Fitch NW, Cole KL, Stone C, Drummond SM, Rageth K, Dewitt LR, González Henao S, Karanauskus V. Plausible Emergence and Self Assembly of a Primitive Phospholipid from Reduced Phosphorus on the Primordial Earth. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2021; 51:185-213. [PMID: 34279769 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-021-09613-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
How life arose on the primitive Earth is one of the biggest questions in science. Biomolecular emergence scenarios have proliferated in the literature but accounting for the ubiquity of oxidized (+ 5) phosphate (PO43-) in extant biochemistries has been challenging due to the dearth of phosphate and molecular oxygen on the primordial Earth. A compelling body of work suggests that exogenous schreibersite ((Fe,Ni)3P) was delivered to Earth via meteorite impacts during the Heavy Bombardment (ca. 4.1-3.8 Gya) and there converted to reduced P oxyanions (e.g., phosphite (HPO32-) and hypophosphite (H2PO2-)) and phosphonates. Inspired by this idea, we review the relevant literature to deduce a plausible reduced phospholipid analog of modern phosphatidylcholines that could have emerged in a primordial hydrothermal setting. A shallow alkaline lacustrine basin underlain by active hydrothermal fissures and meteoritic schreibersite-, clay-, and metal-enriched sediments is envisioned. The water column is laden with known and putative primordial hydrothermal reagents. Small system dimensions and thermal- and UV-driven evaporation further concentrate chemical precursors. We hypothesize that a reduced phospholipid arises from Fischer-Tropsch-type (FTT) production of a C8 alkanoic acid, which condenses with an organophosphinate (derived from schreibersite corrosion to hypophosphite with subsequent methylation/oxidation), to yield a reduced protophospholipid. This then condenses with an α-amino nitrile (derived from Strecker-type reactions) to form the polar head. Preliminary modeling results indicate that reduced phospholipids do not aggregate rapidly; however, single layer micelles are stable up to aggregates with approximately 100 molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael O Gaylor
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA.
| | - Pere Miro
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA
| | - Bess Vlaisavljevich
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA
| | | | - Laura M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
| | - Arthur Omran
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA.,Department of Chemistry, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Patrick Videau
- Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR, 97520, USA.,Bayer Crop Science, Chesterfield, MO, 63017, USA
| | - Vaille A Swenson
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA.,Department of Molecular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
| | - Lucas J Leinen
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Nathaniel W Fitch
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Krista L Cole
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Chris Stone
- Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR, 97520, USA
| | - Samuel M Drummond
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Kayli Rageth
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Lillian R Dewitt
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
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4
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Bizzarri BM, Šponer JE, Šponer J, Cassone G, Kapralov M, Timoshenko GN, Krasavin E, Fanelli G, Timperio AM, Di Mauro E, Saladino R. Meteorite‐Assisted Phosphorylation of Adenosine Under Proton Irradiation Conditions. CHEMSYSTEMSCHEM 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/syst.201900039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Bruno M. Bizzarri
- Department of Ecological and Biological SciencesUniversity of Tuscia Via S. Camillo de Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy
| | - Judit E. Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 CZ-61265 Brno Czech Republic
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials Faculty of SciencePalacky University 17 listopadu 771 46 Olomouc Czech Republic
| | - Jiri Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 CZ-61265 Brno Czech Republic
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials Faculty of SciencePalacky University 17 listopadu 771 46 Olomouc Czech Republic
| | - Giuseppe Cassone
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 CZ-61265 Brno Czech Republic
| | - Michail Kapralov
- Joint Institute for Nuclear ResearchJINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology Dubna Russia
| | - Gennady N. Timoshenko
- Joint Institute for Nuclear ResearchJINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology Dubna Russia
| | - Eugene Krasavin
- Joint Institute for Nuclear ResearchJINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology Dubna Russia
| | - Giuseppina Fanelli
- Department of Science and Technology for Agriculture, Forestry, Nature, and EnergyUniversity of Tuscia Via S. Camillo de Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy
| | - Anna Maria Timperio
- Department of Ecological and Biological SciencesUniversity of Tuscia Via S. Camillo de Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy
| | - Ernesto Di Mauro
- Department of Ecological and Biological SciencesUniversity of Tuscia Via S. Camillo de Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy
| | - Raffaele Saladino
- Department of Ecological and Biological SciencesUniversity of Tuscia Via S. Camillo de Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy
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5
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Chemomimesis and Molecular Darwinism in Action: From Abiotic Generation of Nucleobases to Nucleosides and RNA. Life (Basel) 2018; 8:life8020024. [PMID: 29925796 PMCID: PMC6027154 DOI: 10.3390/life8020024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2018] [Revised: 06/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Molecular Darwinian evolution is an intrinsic property of reacting pools of molecules resulting in the adaptation of the system to changing conditions. It has no a priori aim. From the point of view of the origin of life, Darwinian selection behavior, when spontaneously emerging in the ensembles of molecules composing prebiotic pools, initiates subsequent evolution of increasingly complex and innovative chemical information. On the conservation side, it is a posteriori observed that numerous biological processes are based on prebiotically promptly made compounds, as proposed by the concept of Chemomimesis. Molecular Darwinian evolution and Chemomimesis are principles acting in balanced cooperation in the frame of Systems Chemistry. The one-pot synthesis of nucleosides in radical chemistry conditions is possibly a telling example of the operation of these principles. Other indications of similar cases of molecular evolution can be found among biogenic processes.
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Turner AM, Abplanalp MJ, Blair TJ, Dayuha R, Kaiser RI. An Infrared Spectroscopic Study Toward the Formation of Alkylphosphonic Acids and Their Precursors in Extraterrestrial Environments. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL. SUPPLEMENT SERIES 2018; 234:6. [PMID: 30842689 PMCID: PMC6398957 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4365/aa9183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The only known phosphorus-containing organic compounds of extraterrestrial origin, alkylphosphonic acids, were discovered in the Murchison meteorite and have accelerated the hypothesis that reduced oxidation states of phosphorus were delivered to early Earth and served as a prebiotic source of phosphorus. While previous studies looking into the formation of these alkylphosphonic acids have focused on the iron-nickel phosphide mineral schreibersite and phosphorous acid as a source of phosphorus, this work utilizes phosphine (PH3), which has been discovered in the circumstellar envelope of IRC +10216, in the atmosphere of Jupiter and Saturn, and believed to be the phosphorus carrier in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Phosphine ices prepared with interstellar molecules such as carbon dioxide, water, and methane were subjected to electron irradiation, which simulates the secondary electrons produced from galactic cosmic rays penetrating the ice, and probed using infrared spectroscopy to understand the possible formation of alkylphosphonic acids and their precursors on interstellar icy grains that could become incorporated into meteorites such as Murchison. We present the first study and results on the possible synthesis of alkylphosphonic acids produced from phosphine-mixed ices under interstellar conditions. All functional groups of alkylphosphonic acids were detected through infrared spectroscopically, suggesting that this class of molecules can be formed in interstellar ices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew M Turner
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Matthew J Abplanalp
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Tyler J Blair
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Remwilyn Dayuha
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Ralf I Kaiser
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
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7
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Gull M, Zhou M, Fernández FM, Pasek MA. Prebiotic phosphate ester syntheses in a deep eutectic solvent. J Mol Evol 2013; 78:109-17. [PMID: 24368625 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-013-9605-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2013] [Accepted: 12/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
We report a route to synthesize a wide range of organophosphates of biological significance in a deep eutectic solvent (2:1 urea and choline chloride), utilizing various orthophosphate sources. Heating an organic alcohol in the solvent along with a soluble phosphorus source yields phosphorus esters of choline as well as that of the added organic in yields between 15 to 99 %. In addition, phosphite analogs of biological phosphates and peptides were also formed by the simple mixing of reagents and heating at 60-70 °C in the deep eutectic solvent. The presented dehydration reactions are relevant to prebiotic and green chemistry in alternative solvents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maheen Gull
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, NES 107, 4202 East Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA,
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8
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Saladino R, Botta G, Pino S, Costanzo G, Di Mauro E. Genetics first or metabolism first? The formamide clue. Chem Soc Rev 2012; 41:5526-65. [PMID: 22684046 DOI: 10.1039/c2cs35066a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Life is made of the intimate interaction of metabolism and genetics, both built around the chemistry of the most common elements of the Universe (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon). The transmissible interaction of metabolic and genetic cycles results in the hypercycles of organization and de-organization of chemical information, of living and non-living. The origin-of-life quest has long been split into several attitudes exemplified by the aphorisms "genetics-first" or "metabolism-first". Recently, the opposition between these approaches has been solved by more unitary theoretical and experimental frames taking into account energetic, evolutionary, proto-metabolic and environmental aspects. Nevertheless, a unitary and simple chemical frame is still needed that could afford both the precursors of the synthetic pathways eventually leading to RNA and to the key components of the central metabolic cycles, possibly connected with the synthesis of fatty acids. In order to approach the problem of the origin of life it is therefore reasonable to start from the assumption that both metabolism and genetics had a common origin, shared a common chemical frame, and were embedded under physical-chemical conditions favourable for the onset of both. The singleness of such a prebiotically productive chemical process would partake of Darwinian advantages over more complex fragmentary chemical systems. The prebiotic chemistry of formamide affords in a single and simple physical-chemical frame nucleic bases, acyclonucleosides, nucleotides, biogenic carboxylic acids, sugars, amino sugars, amino acids and condensing agents. Thus, we suggest the possibility that formamide could have jointly provided the main components for the onset of both (pre)genetic and (pre)metabolic processes. As a note of caution, we discuss the fact that these observations only indicate possible solutions at the level of organic substrates, not at the systemic chemical level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaele Saladino
- Dipartimento di Agrobiologia ed Agrochimica, Università della Tuscia, Via San Camillo De Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy.
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9
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Maheen G, Wang Y, Wang Y, Shi Z, Tian G, Feng S. Mimicking the prebiotic acidic hydrothermal environment: One-pot prebiotic hydrothermal synthesis of glucose phosphates. HETEROATOM CHEMISTRY 2011. [DOI: 10.1002/hc.20675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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10
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Maheen G, Tian G, Wang Y, He C, Shi Z, Yuan H, Feng S. Resolving the enigma of prebiotic COP bond formation: Prebiotic hydrothermal synthesis of important biological phosphate esters. HETEROATOM CHEMISTRY 2010. [DOI: 10.1002/hc.20591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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11
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Ciciriello F, Costanzo G, Pino S, Di Mauro E. Spontaneous Generation Revisited at the Molecular Level. Evol Biol 2009. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-00952-5_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
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12
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Abstract
Phosphorus is a key biologic element, and a prebiotic pathway leading to its incorporation into biomolecules has been difficult to ascertain. Most potentially prebiotic phosphorylation reactions have relied on orthophosphate as the source of phosphorus. It is suggested here that the geochemistry of phosphorus on the early Earth was instead controlled by reduced oxidation state phosphorus compounds such as phosphite (HPO(3)(2-)), which are more soluble and reactive than orthophosphates. This reduced oxidation state phosphorus originated from extraterrestrial material that fell during the heavy bombardment period or was produced during impacts, and persisted in the mildly reducing atmosphere. This alternate view of early Earth phosphorus geochemistry provides an unexplored route to the formation of pertinent prebiotic phosphorus compounds, suggests a facile reaction pathway to condensed phosphates, and is consistent with the biochemical usage of reduced oxidation state phosphorus compounds in life today. Possible studies are suggested that may detect reduced oxidation state phosphorus compounds in ancient Archean rocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A. Pasek
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrobiology Institute (NAI) LaPlace Center, University of Arizona, 1629 East University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85719
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13
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Costanzo G, Saladino R, Crestini C, Ciciriello F, Di Mauro E. Nucleoside phosphorylation by phosphate minerals. J Biol Chem 2007; 282:16729-35. [PMID: 17412692 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m611346200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
In the presence of formamide, crystal phosphate minerals may act as phosphate donors to nucleosides, yielding both 5'- and, to a lesser extent, 3'-phosphorylated forms. With the mineral Libethenite the formation of 5'-AMP can be as high as 6% of the adenosine input and last for at least 10(3) h. At high concentrations, soluble non-mineral phosphate donors (KH(2)PO(4) or 5'-CMP) afford 2'- and 2':3'-cyclic AMP in addition to 5'-and 3'-AMP. The phosphate minerals analyzed were Herderite Ca[BePO(4)F], Hureaulite Mn(2+)(5)(PO(3)(OH)(2)(PO(4))(2)(H(2)O)(4), Libethenite Cu(2+)(2)(PO(4))(OH), Pyromorphite Pb(5)(PO(4))(3)Cl, Turquoise Cu(2+)Al(6)(PO(4))(4)(OH)(8)(H(2)O)(4), Fluorapatite Ca(5)(PO(4))(3)F, Hydroxylapatite Ca(5)(PO(4))(3)OH, Vivianite Fe(2+)(3)(PO(4))(2)(H(2)O)(8), Cornetite Cu(2+)(3)(PO(4))(OH)(3), Pseudomalachite Cu(2+)(5)(PO(4))(2)(OH)(4), Reichenbachite Cu(2+)(5)(PO(4))(2)(OH)(4), and Ludjibaite Cu(2+)(5)(PO(4))(2)(OH)(4)). Based on their behavior in the formamide-driven nucleoside phosphorylation reaction, these minerals can be characterized as: 1) inactive, 2) low level phosphorylating agents, or 3) active phosphorylating agents. Instances were detected (Libethenite and Hydroxylapatite) in which phosphorylation occurs on the mineral surface, followed by release of the phosphorylated compounds. Libethenite and Cornetite markedly protect the beta-glycosidic bond. Thus, activated nucleic monomers can form in a liquid non-aqueous environment in conditions compatible with the thermodynamics of polymerization, providing a solution to the standard-state Gibbs free energy change (DeltaG degrees ') problem, the major obstacle for polymerizations in the liquid phase in plausible prebiotic scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanna Costanzo
- Istituto di Biologia e Patologia Molecolari, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pizalle Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
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Pasek MA, Lauretta DS. Aqueous corrosion of phosphide minerals from iron meteorites: a highly reactive source of prebiotic phosphorus on the surface of the early Earth. ASTROBIOLOGY 2005; 5:515-35. [PMID: 16078869 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2005.5.515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
We present the results of an experimental study of aqueous corrosion of Fe-phosphide under conditions relevant to the early Earth. The results strongly suggest that iron meteorites were an important source of reactive phosphorus (P), a requirement for the formation of P-based life. We further demonstrate that iron meteorites were an abundant source of phosphide minerals early in Earth history. Phosphide corrosion was studied in five different solutions: deionized water, deionized water buffered with sodium bicarbonate, deionized water with dissolved magnesium and calcium chlorides, deionized water containing ethanol and acetic acid, and deionized water containing the chlorides, ethanol, and acetic acid. Experiments were performed in the presence of both air and pure Ar gas to evaluate the effect of atmospheric chemistry. Phosphide corrosion in deionized water results in a metastable mixture of mixed-valence, P-bearing ions including pyrophosphate and triphosphate, key components for metabolism in modern life. In a pH-buffered solution of NaHCO(3), the condensed and reduced species diphosphonate is an abundant corrosion product. Corrosion in ethanol- and acetic acid-containing solutions yields additional P-bearing organic molecules, including acetyl phosphonate and a cyclic triphosphorus molecule. Phosphonate is a major corrosion product of all experiments and is the only P-bearing molecule that persists in solutions with high concentrations of magnesium and calcium chlorides, which suggests that phosphonate may have been a primitive oceanic source of P. The stability and reactivity of phosphonate and hypophosphite in solution were investigated to elucidate reaction mechanisms and the role of mineral catalysts on P-solution chemistry. Phosphonate oxidation is rapid in the presence of Fe metal but negligible in the presence of magnetite and in the control sample. The rate of hypophosphite oxidation is independent of reaction substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Pasek
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
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15
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Abstract
The demonstration that ribosomal peptide synthesis is a ribozyme-catalyzed reaction makes it almost certain that there was once an RNA World. The central problem for origin-of-life studies, therefore, is to understand how a protein-free RNA World became established on the primitive Earth. We first review the literature on the prebiotic synthesis of the nucleotides, the nonenzymatic synthesis and copying of polynucleotides, and the selection of ribozyme catalysts of a kind that might have facilitated polynucleotide replication. This leads to a brief outline of the Molecular Biologists' Dream, an optimistic scenario for the origin of the RNA World. In the second part of the review we point out the many unresolved problems presented by the Molecular Biologists' Dream. This in turn leads to a discussion of genetic systems simpler than RNA that might have "invented" RNA. Finally, we review studies of prebiotic membrane formation.
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16
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Whitnall MR, Thornton-Pett M, Kee TP. [1-[2-(bis-{2-[(1-phenylethylimino)methyl]phenyl}phosphinoyl)phenyl]meth-[E]-ylidene]-(1-phenylethyl)amine. Synthesis, X-ray and conformational dynamic analysis. Inorganica Chim Acta 2003. [DOI: 10.1016/s0020-1693(03)00299-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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17
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De Graaf RM, Visscher J, Schwartz AW. Prebiotic chemistry of phosphonic acids: products derived from phosphonoacetaldehyde in the presence of formaldehyde. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 1998; 28:271-82. [PMID: 9611767 DOI: 10.1023/a:1006543225618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Phosphonoacetaldehyde (PAL), a phosphonic acid analogue of glycolaldehyde phosphate, reacts in the presence of formaldehyde under mildly basic conditions to produce several new products. The reaction proceeds in two stages: a fast aldol condensation of formaldehyde with PAL, and a slower reaction to produce products containing two phosphonic acid groups. We report on the derivatization, isolation by means of HPLC and characterization of these compounds. One of the products is of potential interest as a building block for a prebiotic informational polymer.
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Affiliation(s)
- R M De Graaf
- Evolutionary Biology Research Group, Faculty of Science, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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