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Updated: Jun 13, 2025
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Laboratory Simulation of an IronII-rich Precambrian Marine Upwelling System to Explore the Growth of Photosynthetic Bacteria
Published on: July 24, 2016
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Iron: Life's primeval transition metal
Jena E Johnson1, Theodore M Present2, Joan Selverstone Valentine2,3
1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
Summary
Early life
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Evolutionary Biology
- Geochemistry
Background:
- Metal ions are essential for modern biochemical functions.
- Environmental metal ion availability is thought to have driven early life's evolution.
- Life's evolutionary path is constrained by encountered chemistry and interaction frequency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the assumption that environmental metal ion availability dictated early life's evolution.
- To investigate the role of metal ion concentrations in the ancient ocean on biochemical evolution.
- To determine if early life could have exclusively utilized specific metal ions.
Main Methods:
- Calculated maximal transition metal ion concentrations in the ancient ocean.
- Compared concentrations of biologically important transition metal ions.
- Assessed the potential biochemical roles of abundant metal ions like iron, magnesium, and calcium.
Main Results:
- Biologically important transition metal ion concentrations were significantly lower than ferrous iron in the ancient ocean.
- Primitive bioligands would have primarily interacted with iron(II) (Fe(II)).
- Abundant Fe(II), alongside magnesium and calcium, could have fulfilled all essential biochemical functions for early life.
Conclusions:
- Early life's biochemical capabilities were likely shaped by the most frequent chemical interactions, predominantly with Fe(II).
- While other metal interactions may have offered niche opportunities, Fe(II) provided a sufficient foundation for early biochemical evolution.
- Primitive organisms could have met all their transition metal ion needs using exclusively Fe(II).
Keywords:
Archean metal ion bioavailabilityancient bioligand metal bindingevolution of early lifemetalloenzyme functional analysisprimitive enzymesMore Related Videos
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