Journal article
Plausible Emergence and Self Assembly of a Primitive Phospholipid from Reduced Phosphorus on the Primordial Earth
Origins of life and evolution of biospheres, Vol.51(3), pp.185-213
09/01/2021
DOI: 10.1007/s11084-021-09613-4
PMID: 34279769
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 (PO
4
3−
) 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)
3
P) 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 (HPO
3
2−
) and hypophosphite (H
2
PO
2
−
)) 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.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Plausible Emergence and Self Assembly of a Primitive Phospholipid from Reduced Phosphorus on the Primordial Earth
- Creators
- Michael O. Gaylor - Dakota State UniversityPere Miro - University of South DakotaBess Vlaisavljevich - University of South DakotaAshen Anuradha Suduweli Kondage - University of South DakotaLaura M. Barge - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryArthur Omran - University of South FloridaPatrick Videau - Southern Oregon UniversityVaille A. Swenson - Dakota State UniversityLucas J. Leinen - Dakota State UniversityNathaniel W. Fitch - Dakota State UniversityKrista L. Cole - Dakota State UniversityChris Stone - Southern Oregon UniversitySamuel M. Drummond - Dakota State UniversityKayli Rageth - Dakota State UniversityLillian R. Dewitt - Dakota State UniversitySarah González Henao - Instituto de Astrobiología de ColombiaVytis Karanauskus - Instituto Neurológico de Colombia
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Origins of life and evolution of biospheres, Vol.51(3), pp.185-213
- Publisher
- Springer Netherlands
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11084-021-09613-4
- PMID
- 34279769
- ISSN
- 0169-6149
- eISSN
- 1573-0875
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 09/01/2021
- Academic Unit
- Chemistry
- Record Identifier
- 9984618631602771
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