A Hot, Acidic Primordial Soup

A new study has revealed that a group of ancient enzymes adapted to substantial changes in ocean temperature and acidity during the last four billion years. The results provide evidence that life on early Earth evolved from an environment that was much hotter and more acidic than today’s. The research was partially funded by the NASA Astrobiology Exo/Evo program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). The paper, “Single-molecule paleoenzymology probes the chemistry of resurrected enzymes” was published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

Source: [Georgia Institute of Technology]

April 6, 2011 / Posted by: Aaron Gronstal

Isotopic Evidence of Early Life in Western Australia

Researchers from NAI’s University of Wisconsin team studied carbon and iron isotopes in core samples from 2.7-2.5 billion year old rocks in Western Australia. New iron isotope data integrated with previously collected carbon isotope data on the same samples document the sophisticated metabolic diversity of microbial communities that once lived in the region, showing that methane and iron cycling were likely coupled. Their results are published in a recent issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

March 22, 2010 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

Hydrogenase Active Sites and the Origin of Life

Members of NAI’s Team at Montana State University have provided a Perspectives piece in Dalton Transactions reviewing the organo-metallic chemistry of the active sites of hydrogenase enzymes. Since hydrogen metabolism is presumed to be an early feature in the energetics of life, and hydrogen metabolizing organisms can be traced very early in molecular phylogeny, studying the metal clusters at hydrogenase active sites can reveal potential conditions in which early life arose. Efforts in this field also could have significant impacts on alternative and renewable energy solutions.

April 6, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

Oldest Evidence for Animals in the Fossil Record

Detected through their molecular remains, fossils of early sponges have been observed in ancient rocks in Oman. The fossils occur in strata that underlie a cap carbonate dated at >635 million years ago. This discovery suggests that shallow waters contained dissolved oxygen in concentrations sufficient to support early animal life at least 100 million years before the Cambrian explosion. Members of NAI’s MIT team led the effort, and publish their findings in the current issue of Nature.

February 4, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice