Thermal energy and the origin of life.

Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere : the Journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life
A W Muller, Dirk Schulze-Makuch

Abstract

Life has evolved on Earth with electromagnetic radiation (light), fermentable organic molecules, and oxidizable chemicals as sources of energy. Biological use of thermal energy has not been observed although heat, and the thermal gradients required to convert it into free energy, are ubiquitous and were even more abundant at the time of the origin of life on Earth. Nevertheless, Earth-organisms sense thermal energy, and in suitable environments may have gained the capability to use it as energy source. It has been proposed that the first organisms obtained their energy by a first protein named pF(1) that worked on a thermal variation of the binding change mechanism of today's ATP sythase enzyme. Organisms using thermosynthesis may still live where light or chemical energy sources are not available. Possible suitable examples are subsurface environments on Earth and in the outer Solar System, in particular the subsurface oceans of the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn.

References

Sep 1, 1989·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·S A BennerA Tauer
Aug 7, 1985·Journal of Theoretical Biology·A W Muller
Jun 1, 1987·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·R C MacDonald, S A Simon
Aug 1, 1985·International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics·Y MaruyamaC Parker
Apr 5, 1973·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·G D Case, W W Parson
May 25, 1972·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·J B CallisM Gouterman
Nov 2, 1971·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·G D Case, W W Parson
May 23, 1970·Nature·S Black
Jan 1, 1994·Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology·C S Goodwin
Feb 24, 2001·Advances in Colloid and Interface Science·R J Clarke
Mar 10, 2001·Nature·E G Nisbet, N H Sleep
Jul 13, 2001·Nature·D S KelleyUNKNOWN AT3-60 Shipboard Party
Jul 27, 2001·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·K TakaiK Horikoshi
May 1, 1997·Journal of the Geological Society·M J Russell, A J Hall
Mar 8, 2002·Nature·Martin D BrasierNathalie V Grassineau
Nov 27, 2002·Astrobiology·Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Louis N Irwin
Jun 20, 2003·Nature·Veena ViswanathTim Jegla
Dec 18, 2003·Astrobiology·Anthonie W J Muller
Mar 24, 2004·Journal of Structural Biology·Lakshminarayan M IyerL Aravind
Jul 16, 2004·Journal of Bioenergetics and Biomembranes·G Oster, H Wang
Apr 9, 2005·Astrobiology·P C W Davies, Charles H Lineweaver
Sep 17, 2005·Science·Robert G StromDavid A Kring

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 10, 2006·Die Naturwissenschaften·Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Louis N Irwin
Mar 25, 2010·Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere : the Journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life·Laurent Boiteau, Robert Pascal
May 27, 2009·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Michael Kaufmann
Aug 18, 2016·Astrobiology·Shawn D Domagal-GoldmanTeresa Wong
Feb 1, 2009·American Journal of Botany·R Matthew Ogburn, Erika J Edwards
Mar 5, 2009·Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics·Samuel ArbesmanSteven H Strogatz
Mar 18, 2015·The New Phytologist·Michael J Donoghue, Michael J Sanderson
Sep 6, 2013·Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology·Andrei KhorobrykhG Charles Dismukes

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

ATP Synthases

ATP synthases are enzymes located in the inner mitochondrial membrane that catalyze the synthesis of ATP during cellular respiration. Discover the latest research on ATP synthases here.