Did Nature use Reduced Oxidation State Phosphorus in Prebiotic Chemistry? Strengthening the Case for a Non-Phosphate World prior to the RNA-World
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Sch of Chemistry
Abstract
Phosphate is a key ingredient in all life on Earth. Phosphate is everywhere on Earth, we dig it out of the ground as a calcium salt, we use it to brush our teeth, we consume it in food and drink every day. However, despite it being a rather common chemical, it is by no means certain that Nature chose phosphate for the earliest forms of life on Earth. A large part of the problem is that phosphate chemicals are both extremely insoluble and very unreactive chemically. In 1955, the scientist Addison Gulick proposed that this phosphate problem could have been solved if other forms of phosphorus were available on the early Earth. These chemicals, called phosphonates and phosphinates, are close relatives of phosphate but are both more soluble and chemically reactive in water. The problem is that phosphonates and phosphinates are unkown on Earth today because over the millennia, the chemical environment of Earth has changed to such a degree that only phosphates are now stable. However, we have recently discovered that phosphinates and phosphonates could have been readily available to prebiotic chemistry on the early Earth through chemical reactions of iron-rich meteorites with water in the presence of light. This discovery allows us to explore in detail the potential of phosphonates and phosphinates in the origin-of-life problem for the first time with a degree of confidence that such chemistry could have been available on the early Earth.This project is built in two parts. In Part 1 we will look in detail at how exactly phosphonates and phosphinates were formed from the chemical modification of actual meteorite fragments. In Part 2, we explore potential chemical reactions which could have taken place on an early Earth with these two phosphorus species and which could have an impact in how some of key biological molecules, such as prebiotic organic phosphorus polymers, might have emerged.
Publications
Barge LM
(2014)
The fuel cell model of abiogenesis: a new approach to origin-of-life simulations.
in Astrobiology
Bryant D
(2013)
Hydrothermal modification of the Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite under low pH geothermal environments. A plausibly prebiotic route to activated phosphorus on the early Earth
in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Bryant DE
(2010)
On the prebiotic potential of reduced oxidation state phosphorus: the H-phosphinate-pyruvate system.
in Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
Cousins C
(2013)
Glaciovolcanic hydrothermal environments in Iceland and implications for their detection on Mars
in Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
Dass A
(2016)
Stochastic Prebiotic Chemistry within Realistic Geological Systems
in ChemistrySelect
Kaye K
(2016)
Selective Phosphonylation of 5'-Adenosine Monophosphate (5'-AMP) via Pyrophosphite [PPi(III)].
in Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere : the journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life
Kee T
(2016)
On the Emergence of a Proto-Metabolism and the Assembly of Early Protocells
in Elements
Kee TP
(2013)
Phosphate Activation via Reduced Oxidation State Phosphorus (P). Mild Routes to Condensed-P Energy Currency Molecules.
in Life (Basel, Switzerland)
Pasek M
(2015)
Phosphorus: a case for mineral-organic reactions in prebiotic chemistry.
in Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere : the journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life
Pasek MA
(2008)
Production of potentially prebiotic condensed phosphates by phosphorus redox chemistry.
in Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)
Description | We have discovered that the emergence of phosphorus as a central element in life may not have resulted from contemporary phosphorus geo-chemistry but from an earlier form of geo-chemistry in which phosphorus was manipulated in a form different to that wide-spread today. |
Exploitation Route | This work is being taken forward in trying to better understand the emergence of life based on phosphorus biochemistry. |
Sectors | Chemicals,Education,Environment |
Description | This project has been, I believe, a land-mark in flagging up some of the key roles of phosphorus chemistry to the origins of life. It has spun-out many new projects and developments and papers are still being produced which build upon its principal conclusions. Simply put, this work has cemented the importance of looking at phosphorus chemistry when considering lifes origins. |
First Year Of Impact | 2007 |
Sector | Chemicals,Education,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | European Union EU Brussels, Marie Curie IIF |
Amount | £160,606 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 298254 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 10/2013 |
End | 10/2015 |
Description | Leverhulme Trust |
Amount | £166,816 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RPG 2012 503 |
Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2012 |
End | 10/2015 |