Supply of Phosphate to Early Earth by Photogeochemistry After Meteoritic Weathering

Overview

Journal Nat Geosci

Date 2020 May 13

PMID 32395178

Citations 23

Authors

Dougal J Ritson

Stephen J Mojzsis

John D Sutherland

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

During terrestrial differentiation, the relatively small amount of phosphorus that migrated to the lithosphere was incorporated into igneous rock, predominantly in the form of basic calcium orthophosphate (Ca(PO)(OH,F,Cl), apatite). Yet, the highly insoluble nature of calcium apatite presents a significant problem to those contemplating the origin of life given the foundational role of phosphate (PO ) in extant biology and the apparent requirement for PO as a catalyst, buffer and reagent in prebiotic chemistry. Reduced meteorites such as enstatite chondrites are highly enriched in phosphide minerals, and upon reaction with water these minerals can release phosphorus species of various oxidation states. Here, we demonstrate how reduced phosphorus species can be fully oxidized to PO simply by the action of ultraviolet light on HS/HS. We used low pressure Hg lamps to simulate UV output from the young Sun and P NMR spectroscopy to monitor the progress of reactions. Our experimental findings provide a cosmochemically and geochemically plausible means for supply of PO that was widely available to prebiotic chemistry and nascent life on early Earth, and potentially on other planets.

Citing Articles

A Surface Hydrothermal Source of Nitriles and Isonitriles.

Rimmer P, Shorttle O Life (Basel). 2024; 14(4).

PMID: 38672768 PMC: 11051382. DOI: 10.3390/life14040498.

Opinion: The Key Steps in the Origin of Life to the Formation of the Eukaryotic Cell.

Brunk C, Marshall C Life (Basel). 2024; 14(2).

PMID: 38398735 PMC: 10890422. DOI: 10.3390/life14020226.

Prebiotic Syntheses of Organophosphorus Compounds from Reduced Source of Phosphorus in Non-Aqueous Solvents.

Gull M, Feng T, Smith B, Calcul L, Pasek M Life (Basel). 2023; 13(11).

PMID: 38004274 PMC: 10672063. DOI: 10.3390/life13112134.

Carbonyl Migration in Uronates Affords a Potential Prebiotic Pathway for Pentose Production.

Yi R, Mojica M, Fahrenbach A, James Cleaves 2nd H, Krishnamurthy R, Liotta C JACS Au. 2023; 3(9):2522-2535.

PMID: 37772180 PMC: 10523364. DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.3c00299.

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

Nicholls J, Chin J, Williams T, Lenton T, OFlaherty V, McGrath J Front Microbiol. 2023; 14:1239189.

PMID: 37601379 PMC: 10433651. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1239189.

References

Bryant D, Kee T . Direct evidence for the availability of reactive, water soluble phosphorus on the early Earth. H-phosphinic acid from the Nantan meteorite. Chem Commun (Camb). 2006; (22):2344-6. DOI: 10.1039/b602651f. View

De Graaf R, Visscher J, Schwartz A . A plausibly prebiotic synthesis of phosphonic acids. Nature. 1995; 378(6556):474-7. DOI: 10.1038/378474a0. View

Ranjan S, Sasselov D . Influence of the UV Environment on the Synthesis of Prebiotic Molecules. Astrobiology. 2016; 16(1):68-88. DOI: 10.1089/ast.2015.1359. View

Patel B, Percivalle C, Ritson D, Duffy C, Sutherland J . Common origins of RNA, protein and lipid precursors in a cyanosulfidic protometabolism. Nat Chem. 2015; 7(4):301-7. PMC: 4568310. DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2202. View

Pasek M, Lauretta D . Aqueous corrosion of phosphide minerals from iron meteorites: a highly reactive source of prebiotic phosphorus on the surface of the early Earth. Astrobiology. 2005; 5(4):515-35. DOI: 10.1089/ast.2005.5.515. View

Pasek M, Lauretta D . Extraterrestrial flux of potentially prebiotic C, N, and P to the early Earth. Orig Life Evol Biosph. 2007; 38(1):5-21. DOI: 10.1007/s11084-007-9110-5. View

Kurosawa K, Sugita S, Ishibashi K, Hasegawa S, Sekine Y, Ogawa N . Hydrogen cyanide production due to mid-size impacts in a redox-neutral N2-rich atmosphere. Orig Life Evol Biosph. 2013; 43(3):221-45. DOI: 10.1007/s11084-013-9339-0. View

Rimmer P, Xu J, Thompson S, Gillen E, Sutherland J, Queloz D . The origin of RNA precursors on exoplanets. Sci Adv. 2018; 4(8):eaar3302. PMC: 6070314. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aar3302. View

Gibard C, Bhowmik S, Karki M, Kim E, Krishnamurthy R . Phosphorylation, oligomerization and self-assembly in water under potential prebiotic conditions. Nat Chem. 2018; 10(2):212-217. PMC: 6295206. DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2878. View

10.

Herschy B, Chang S, Blake R, Lepland A, Abbott-Lyon H, Sampson J . Archean phosphorus liberation induced by iron redox geochemistry. Nat Commun. 2018; 9(1):1346. PMC: 5890264. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03835-3. View

11.

Gibard C, Gorrell I, Jimenez E, Kee T, Pasek M, Krishnamurthy R . Geochemical Sources and Availability of Amidophosphates on the Early Earth. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2019; 58(24):8151-8155. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201903808. View

12.

Ritson D, Sutherland J . Synthesis of aldehydic ribonucleotide and amino acid precursors by photoredox chemistry. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013; 52(22):5845-7. PMC: 4269183. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201300321. View

13.

Volman D, Wolstenholme J, HADLEY S . Photochemical formation of free radicals from hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, and cysteine. J Phys Chem. 1967; 71(6):1798-803. DOI: 10.1021/j100865a037. View

14.

Ritson D, Battilocchio C, Ley S, Sutherland J . Mimicking the surface and prebiotic chemistry of early Earth using flow chemistry. Nat Commun. 2018; 9(1):1821. PMC: 5940729. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04147-2. View

15.

Becker S, Schneider C, Okamura H, Crisp A, Amatov T, Dejmek M . Wet-dry cycles enable the parallel origin of canonical and non-canonical nucleosides by continuous synthesis. Nat Commun. 2018; 9(1):163. PMC: 5765019. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02639-1. View

16.

Burcar B, Castaneda A, Lago J, Daniel M, Pasek M, Hud N . A Stark Contrast to Modern Earth: Phosphate Mineral Transformation and Nucleoside Phosphorylation in an Iron- and Cyanide-Rich Early Earth Scenario. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2019; 58(47):16981-16987. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201908272. View

17.

Ferus M, Kubelik P, Knizek A, Pastorek A, Sutherland J, Civis S . High Energy Radical Chemistry Formation of HCN-rich Atmospheres on early Earth. Sci Rep. 2017; 7(1):6275. PMC: 5524942. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06489-1. View

18.

Sutherland J . The Origin of Life--Out of the Blue. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015; 55(1):104-21. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201506585. View

19.

Liu D, Li X, Wei L, Zhang T, Wang A, Liu C . Disproportionation of hypophosphite and phosphite. Dalton Trans. 2017; 46(19):6366-6378. DOI: 10.1039/c7dt00243b. View

20.

Pasek M, Kee T, Bryant D, Pavlov A, Lunine J . Production of potentially prebiotic condensed phosphates by phosphorus redox chemistry. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2008; 47(41):7918-20. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200802145. View