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Linked cycles of oxidative decarboxylation of glyoxylate as protometabolic analogs of the citric acid cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Greg Springsteen

    (Furman University
    NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution)

  • Jayasudhan Reddy Yerabolu

    (NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution
    The Scripps Research Institute)

  • Julia Nelson

    (Furman University
    NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution)

  • Chandler Joel Rhea

    (Furman University
    NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution)

  • Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy

    (NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution
    The Scripps Research Institute)

Abstract

The development of metabolic approaches towards understanding the origins of life, which have focused mainly on the citric acid (TCA) cycle, have languished—primarily due to a lack of experimentally demonstrable and sustainable cycle(s) of reactions. We show here the existence of a protometabolic analog of the TCA involving two linked cycles, which convert glyoxylate into CO2 and produce aspartic acid in the presence of ammonia. The reactions proceed from either pyruvate, oxaloacetate or malonate in the presence of glyoxylate as the carbon source and hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant under neutral aqueous conditions and at mild temperatures. The reaction pathway demonstrates turnover under controlled conditions. These results indicate that simpler versions of metabolic cycles could have emerged under potential prebiotic conditions, laying the foundation for the appearance of more sophisticated metabolic pathways once control by (polymeric) catalysts became available.

Suggested Citation

  • Greg Springsteen & Jayasudhan Reddy Yerabolu & Julia Nelson & Chandler Joel Rhea & Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, 2018. "Linked cycles of oxidative decarboxylation of glyoxylate as protometabolic analogs of the citric acid cycle," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-02591-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02591-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Jordan Stone & John O. Edgar & Jamie A. Gould & Jon Telling, 2022. "Tectonically-driven oxidant production in the hot biosphere," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Weishu Zhao & Bozitao Zhong & Lirong Zheng & Pan Tan & Yinzhao Wang & Hao Leng & Nicolas Souza & Zhuo Liu & Liang Hong & Xiang Xiao, 2022. "Proteome-wide 3D structure prediction provides insights into the ancestral metabolism of ancient archaea and bacteria," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Sota Yagi & Shunsuke Tagami, 2024. "An ancestral fold reveals the evolutionary link between RNA polymerase and ribosomal proteins," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

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