Protocells: Milestones and recent advances

I Gözen, ES Köksal, I Põldsalu, L Xue, K Spustova… - Small, 2022 - Wiley Online Library
The origin of life is still one of humankind's great mysteries. At the transition between
nonliving and living matter, protocells, initially featureless aggregates of abiotic matter, gain …

Phosphorus availability on the early Earth and the impacts of life

CR Walton, S Ewens, JD Coates, RE Blake… - Nature …, 2023 - nature.com
Phosphorus (P) is critical to modern biochemical functions and can control ecosystem
growth. It was presumably important as a reagent in prebiotic chemistry. However, on the …

A review of volcanic electrification of the atmosphere and volcanic lightning

C Cimarelli, K Genareau - Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal …, 2022 - Elsevier
The electrification of volcanic ash plumes and the occurrence of volcanic lightning are now
known to be common phenomena during explosive volcanic eruptions. This knowledge …

Geological evidence of extensive N-fixation by volcanic lightning during very large explosive eruptions

A Aroskay, E Martin, S Bekki… - Proceedings of the …, 2024 - National Acad Sciences
Most of the nitrogen (N) accessible for life is trapped in dinitrogen (N2), the most stable
atmospheric molecule. In order to be metabolized by living organisms, N2 has to be …

On the paragenetic modes of minerals: A mineral evolution perspective

RM Hazen, SM Morrison - American Mineralogist, 2022 - degruyter.com
A systematic survey of 57 different paragenetic modes distributed among 5659 mineral
species reveals patterns in the diversity and distribution of minerals related to their evolving …

On the potential roles of phosphorus in the early evolution of energy metabolism

JWF Nicholls, JP Chin, TA Williams… - Frontiers in …, 2023 - frontiersin.org
Energy metabolism in extant life is centered around phosphate and the energy-dense
phosphoanhydride bonds of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a deeply conserved and ancient …

Routes to reduction of phosphate by high-energy events

L Bindi, T Feng, MA Pasek - Communications Earth & Environment, 2023 - nature.com
Phosphate minerals such as those in the apatite group tend to be the dominant forms of
phosphorus in minerals on the Earth's surface. Phosphate can be reduced to phosphides …

AMP-dependent phosphite dehydrogenase, a phosphorylating enzyme in dissimilatory phosphite oxidation

Z Mao, JR Fleming, O Mayans, J Frey… - Proceedings of the …, 2023 - National Acad Sciences
Oxidation of phosphite (HPO32−) to phosphate (HPO42−) releases electrons at a very low
redox potential (E0′=− 690 mV) which renders phosphite an excellent electron donor for …

On the diversity and formation modes of martian minerals

RM Hazen, RT Downs, SM Morrison… - Journal of …, 2023 - Wiley Online Library
A systematic survey of 161 known and postulated minerals originating on Mars points to 20
different mineral‐forming processes (paragenetic modes), which are a subset of formation …

The astrochemical evolutionary traits of phospholipid membrane homochirality

J Bocková, NC Jones, SV Hoffmann… - Nature Reviews …, 2024 - nature.com
Compartmentalization is crucial for the evolution of life. Present-day phospholipid
membranes exhibit a high level of complexity and species-dependent homochirality, the so …