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Prebiotic Synthesis of ATP: A Terrestrial Volcanism-Dependent Pathway
Xin-Yi Chu1,2,3, Hong-Yu Zhang1
1Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Abstract:
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional small molecule, necessary for all modern Earth life, which must be a component of the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). However, the relatively complex structure of ATP causes doubts about its accessibility on prebiotic Earth. In this paper, based on previous studies on the synthesis of ATP components, a plausible prebiotic pathway yielding this key molecule is constructed, which relies on terrestrial volcanism to provide the required materials and suitable conditions.
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