A Chemical Model for the Prebiotic Origins of Tetrapyrrole Macrocycles

四吡咯大环化合物益生元起源的化学模型

• 批准号: 0953010
• 负责人: Jonathan Lindsey
• 金额: $ 51万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-04-01 至 2013-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0953010&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Chemical; Model; Prebiotic; Origins; Tetrapyrrole

The question of how life originated on Earth is one of the most challenging and perplexing problems in science. This project supported by the Chemistry of Life Processes Program will examine simple, plausibly prebiotic chemical reactions that lead from early-Earth available substances to tetrapyrrole macrocycles. All present-day living organisms use a single, universal pathway for the construction of tetrapyrrole molecules. While mimicry of the modern biosynthetic pathway is attractive, this proposal casts a broad net to examine diverse reactions that plausibly can lead to the formation of tetrapyrrole macrocycles, including those of present-day biochemistry as well as analogues with similar properties that could have played a central role in prebiotic chemistry. A thesis here is that there may have been diverse pathways to the critical class of tetrapyrrole macrocycles, including the now modern pathway, which were operative in the prebiotic era. Simple chemical reactions that subsequently transform tetrapyrrole macrocycles and alter their properties, as occurs in the biosynthetic pathways leading to heme and chlorophylls, also will be examined. The broader impacts of this project include deepening our understanding of biogenesis and the role of energy metabolism in the origin of a self-replicating system. Elucidation of critical milestones for the emergence of energy-utilizing systems including photosynthesis, for which tetrapyrrole macrocycles would seem essential, may not only be central to life's origins but may also augment our understanding of the earliest steps in the transformation of the Earth. Perhaps most important is the education and training of students who work on this project, and a related course to be taught by the PI entitled "The Molecular Origins of Life", both of which are expected to spark young scientists' curiosity and deepen their passion for science.

地球上的生命是如何起源的问题是科学中最具挑战性和最令人困惑的问题之一。该项目由生命过程化学计划支持，将研究简单的，可解释的益生元化学反应，从早期地球可用的物质导致四吡咯大环化合物。 所有现今的生物体都使用单一的通用途径来构建四吡咯分子。 虽然现代生物合成途径的模仿是有吸引力的，但这一提议广泛地研究了可能导致形成四吡咯大环的各种反应，包括当今生物化学的反应以及具有类似性质的类似物，这些类似物可能在生命前化学中发挥了核心作用。 这里的一个论点是，关键类别的四吡咯大环化合物可能有多种途径，包括现在的现代途径，这些途径在生命起源时代就已存在。 简单的化学反应，随后转换四吡咯大环，并改变其性质，发生在生物合成途径，导致血红素和叶绿素，也将进行检查。该项目的更广泛的影响包括加深我们对生物起源和能量代谢在自我复制系统起源中的作用的理解。 阐明包括光合作用在内的能量利用系统出现的关键里程碑，四吡咯大环似乎是必不可少的，这不仅可能是生命起源的核心，也可能增加我们对地球转型最早阶段的理解。 也许最重要的是教育和培训从事该项目的学生，以及由PI教授的题为“生命的分子起源”的相关课程，这两门课程都有望激发年轻科学家的好奇心，加深他们对科学的热情。