Collaborative Research: Biochemical, Genetic, Metabolic and Isotopic Constraints on an Ancient Thiobiosphere

合作研究：古代硫生物圈的生化、遗传、代谢和同位素限制

• 批准号: 1724300
• 负责人: Shawn McGlynn
• 金额: $ 47.01万
• 依托单位: BLUE MARBLE SPACE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-07-15 至 2023-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1724300&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Biochemical; Genetic; Metabolic

Chemical bonds between phosphorus and oxygen are important in building DNA and RNA, and also in supplying modern cells with energy. It is not known, however, whether the first life forms had the same chemistry, and early life in particular may have run on sulfur instead of phosphorus. This project will work backwards from the traces of this sulfur-based chemistry in modern life to reconstruct the role of sulfur-oxygen bonds in early ecosystems. Predictions made from this approach will be compared to the carbon and sulfur isotope record in 2.5 billion year old rocks. We will use the astrobiology social media platform (SAGANet) for the conversations with public about this project and other studies of evolution of life on Earth. Phosphate esters, such as nucleotide triphosphates, diphosphates, and pyrophosphate, are the central component of energy metabolism in all living cells. It is not known, however, whether they were of similar paramount importance at the origin of life or in the first cells, or whether another kind of chemistry was playing the same role there. Considerations from geochemistry, molecular evolution, and systems biology imply that thioesters - high-energy bonds based on sulfur instead of phosphorus - may have supplied energy in the first metabolisms on Earth. This project will develop a broad and detailed understanding of the natural history of thioester utilization, working backwards to reconstruct ancient biochemistry from contemporary metabolism, and simultaneously examining pre-biological chemistries that can couple thioester formation and degradation. These two lines of study will allow the research team to infer the carbon and sulfur isotopic signatures of important metabolic pathways in a putative early thiobiosphere, and test whether these signatures are preserved in the 2.5 billion year old geological record. The results of this project should be of broad interest, and the project will engage with the scientific community and the public through journal publications as well as an established astrobiology social media platform (SAGANet). Select high school serving communities traditionally underrepresented in science will be reached through semester-long programs led by SAGANet graduate student mentors and facilitated by the investigators of this project.

磷和氧之间的化学键对于构建 DNA 和 RNA 以及为现代细胞提供能量非常重要。然而，目前尚不清楚最初的生命形式是否具有相同的化学性质，特别是早期生命可能以硫而不是磷为基础。该项目将从现代生活中这种硫基化学的痕迹开始逆推，重建硫氧键在早期生态系统中的作用。通过这种方法做出的预测将与 25 亿年前岩石中的碳和硫同位素记录进行比较。我们将使用天体生物学社交媒体平台（SAGANet）与公众就该项目和地球生命进化的其他研究进行对话。 磷酸酯，例如三磷酸核苷酸、二磷酸核苷酸和焦磷酸核苷酸，是所有活细胞能量代谢的核心成分。然而，目前尚不清楚它们在生命起源或第一个细胞中是否具有同样的重要性，或者另一种化学物质是否在那里发挥着相同的作用。从地球化学、分子进化和系统生物学的角度考虑，硫酯——基于硫而不是磷的高能键——可能在地球上的第一次新陈代谢中提供了能量。该项目将对硫酯利用的自然历史有广泛而详细的了解，从当代新陈代谢中逆向重建古代生物化学，并同时检查可以耦合硫酯形成和降解的前生物化学。这两项研究将使研究小组能够推断出假定的早期硫生物圈中重要代谢途径的碳和硫同位素特征，并测试这些特征是否保留在 25 亿年前的地质记录中。该项目的结果应该引起广泛的兴趣，该项目将通过期刊出版物以及已建立的天体生物学社交媒体平台（SAGANet）与科学界和公众互动。选定的高中将通过由 SAGANet 研究生导师领导并由该项目研究人员协助的为期一个学期的项目，为传统上在科学领域代表性不足的社区提供服务。

项目成果

Simultaneous synthesis of thioesters and iron–sulfur clusters in water: two universal components of energy metabolism

在水中同时合成硫酯和铁硫簇：能量代谢的两个通用成分

• DOI: 10.1039/d0cc04078a
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Chemical Communications
• 影响因子: 4.9
• 作者: Sanden, Sebastian A.;Yi, Ruiqin;Hara, Masahiko;McGlynn, Shawn E.
• 通讯作者: McGlynn, Shawn E.

Hydrogenation reactions of carbon on Earth: Linking methane, margarine, and life

• DOI: 10.2138/am-2020-6928ccbyncnd
• 发表时间: 2020-04
• 期刊: American Mineralogist
• 影响因子: 3.1
• 作者: S. McGlynn;J. Glass;K. Johnson-Finn;F. Klein;Sebastian A Sanden;M. Schrenk;Y. Ueno;A. Vitale-Brovarone

Natural selection based on coordination chemistry: computational assessment of [4Fe–4S]-maquettes with non-coded amino acids

基于配位化学的自然选择：使用非编码氨基酸对 [4Fe−4S]-模型进行计算评估

• DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0071
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Interface Focus
• 影响因子: 4.4
• 作者: Szilagyi, Robert K.;Hanscam, Rebecca;Shepard, Eric M.;McGlynn, Shawn E.
• 通讯作者: McGlynn, Shawn E.

A Bifunctional Polyphosphate Kinase Driving the Regeneration of Nucleoside Triphosphate and Reconstituted Cell-Free Protein Synthesis

驱动三磷酸核苷再生和重构无细胞蛋白质合成的双功能多磷酸激酶

• DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00456
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: ACS Synthetic Biology
• 影响因子: 4.7
• 作者: Wang, Po-Hsiang;Fujishima, Kosuke;Berhanu, Samuel;Kuruma, Yutetsu;Jia, Tony Z.;Khusnutdinova, Anna N.;Yakunin, Alexander F.;McGlynn, Shawn E.
• 通讯作者: McGlynn, Shawn E.

Microfluidic Reactors for Carbon Fixation under Ambient-Pressure Alkaline-Hydrothermal-Vent Conditions

常压碱性水热通风条件下碳固定的微流控反应器

• DOI: 10.3390/life9010016
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Life
• 作者: Sojo, Victor;Ohno, Aya;McGlynn, Shawn;Yamada, Yoichi;Nakamura, Ryuhei
• 通讯作者: Nakamura, Ryuhei