Growth and heredity of protocells at the origin of life under simulated hydrothermal conditions

细菌和古细菌的自养代谢是由跨质膜的电化学离子梯度驱动的，将二氧化碳固定为有机分子。计算模型和实验工作表明，在碱性热液条件下，一种基本形式的膜遗传可能驱动了原始细胞的生长。该项目将开发最初的计算模型，以考虑在这种情况下引入一种能源货币（例如乙酰磷酸），具体分析氨基酸、糖和核苷酸的益生元合成。该项目将在实验室中测试模型的预测，使用微流控芯片耦合FTIR，拉曼，GC-MS， LC-MS和HPLC。

Autotrophic metabolism in bacteria and archaea is driven by electrochemical ion gradients across the plasma membrane to fix CO2 as organic molecules. Computational modelling and experimental work suggest that a rudimentary form of membrane heredity could have driven growth of protocells under alkaline hydrothermal conditions. This project will develop the initial computational modelling to consider the introduction of an energy currency (e.g. acetyl phosphate) in this setting, specifically analysing the prebiotic synthesis of amino acids, sugars and nucleotides. The project will test the model's predictions in the lab, using microfluidic chips coupled to FTIR, Raman, GC-MS, LC-MS and HPLC.