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Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates

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Metabolism and motility in prebiotic structures.

Martin M Hanczyc¹

¹Center for Fundamental Living Technology (FLinT), Institute of Physics and Chemistry, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark. martin@ifk.sdu.dk

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences

|September 21, 2011

Summary

Primitive chemical oil droplets, formed by self-assembly, exhibit movement and environmental sensing, offering a glimpse into early life forms. These self-moving agents possess a rudimentary metabolism, potentially modeling the origin of life.

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Area of Science:

Origin of Life Studies
Prebiotic Chemistry
Chemical Self-Assembly

Background:

Exploring the earliest forms of life requires understanding simple chemical systems that can exhibit life-like properties.
Hydrophobic self-assembly can create primitive structures with potential for autonomous behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

To present simple chemical systems that self-organize into motile oil droplets.
To investigate the potential of these droplets as primitive agents capable of sensing and movement.
To model a possible chemical origin of life through self-sustaining agents.

Main Methods:

Self-assembly of hydrophobic substances into oil droplets.
Utilizing internal chemical reactions (oleic anhydride or hydrogen cyanide polymer hydrolysis) for energy.
Analyzing droplet behavior, movement, and surface-active properties of hydrogen cyanide polymer products.

Main Results:

Demonstrated self-organization of oil droplets capable of movement and environmental interaction.
Showcased primitive chemotaxis and environment remodeling by these chemical agents.
Characterized the surface-active properties of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) polymer relevant to droplet function.

Conclusions:

These motile chemical agents represent a primitive model for early life, capable of resource acquisition and escaping equilibrium.
The internal metabolism, powered by plausible prebiotic chemistry, supports self-sustainment.
The study provides a working chemical model for the origin of life, predating even simple bilayer vesicles.