A team of researchers at Scripps Research has discovered a pathway that could answer how the first protocells formed. It was a chemical process called phosphorylation that happened earlier than previously estimated.
Research has discovered a pathway that could answer how the first protocells formed. (Photo: Getty)
New Delhi,UPDATED: Mar 4, 2024 16:26 IST
The story of evolution is one of the most researched subjects across the world about how it all began and how we reached where we are as a species today.
The most debatable among them is how that first cell formed on the planet that eventually led to modern-day species in a journey that spans over four billion years. New research is now shedding on all that came together for that first protocell to form.
A team of researchers at Scripps Research has discovered a pathway that could answer how the first protocells formed. It was a chemical process called phosphorylation.
In a study published in the journal Chem, researchers suspect that the process where phosphate groups are added to the molecule could have occurred earlier than previously expected, which could have led to more structurally complex, double-chained protocells capable of harboring chemical reactions and dividing with a diverse range of functionalities.
Phosphates are present in nearly every chemical reaction in the body and the researchers suspected they may have been present earlier than previously believed.
“At some point, we all wonder where we came from. We’ve now discovered a plausible way that phosphates could have been incorporated into cell-like structures earlier than previously thought, which lays the building blocks for life,” says Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, PhD, co-corresponding senior author of the study.
His team looked at how chemical processes occurred to cause the simple chemicals and formations that were present before the emergence of life in prebiotic Earth.
Scientists aimed to understand the transition of protocells, considered crucial for the emergence of life, from single to double chains of phosphates.
Simulating prebiotic conditions, they identified chemical mixtures, including fatty acids and glycerol, to create vesicles resembling protocells.
Through varied pH, component ratios, metal ions, and temperature experiments, they observed vesicles transitioning from a fatty acid to a phospholipid environment. This implies a plausible scenario for protocell formation 4 billion years ago.
The study suggests fatty acids and glycerol phosphorylation played a role in creating stable, double-chain structures, diversifying evolution by leading to vesicles with varied tolerances.
This research sheds light on the chemical dynamics vital for the early stages of life on Earth.
Published By:
Sibu Kumar Tripathi
Published On:
Mar 4, 2024
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