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Spontaneous formation of prebiotic compartment colonies on Hadean Earth and pre-Noachian Mars

View ORCID ProfileElif S. Köksal, View ORCID ProfileInga Põldsalu, Henrik Friis, Stephen Mojzsis, Martin Bizzarro, View ORCID ProfileIrep Gözen
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.11.443509
Elif S. Köksal
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
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Inga Põldsalu
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
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Henrik Friis
2Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Postboks 1172, Blindern 0318 Oslo, Norway
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Stephen Mojzsis
3Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, UCB 399, 2200 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO 80309-0399, USA
4Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, 15-17 Konkoly Thege Miklós Road, Budapest 1121, Hungary
5Department of Lithospheric Research, University of Vienna, UZA 2, Althanstraße 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
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Martin Bizzarro
6Centre for Star and Planet Formation, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
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Irep Gözen
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
7Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, 0315 Oslo, Norway
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  • For correspondence: irep@uio.no
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Abstract

The primitive cells that emerged at the origin of life are commonly viewed as spherical biosurfactant shells, freely suspended in aqueous media1–3. This model explains initial, but not subsequent events in the development process towards structured protocells. Taking into consideration the involvement of naturally occurring surfaces, which were abundant on the early Earth4, we report feasible and productive pathways for the development of primitive cells. Surfaces intrinsically possess energy, easily utilized by the interfacing amphiphiles, such as lipids, to attain self-organization and spontaneous transformations5–7. We show that the physical interaction of phospholipid pools with 20 Hadean Earth analogue materials as well as a Martian meteorite composed of fused regolith representing the ancient crust of Mars, consistently lead to the shape transformation and autonomous formation of surfactant compartment assemblies. Dense, colony-like protocell populations grow from these lipid deposits, predominantly at the grain boundaries or cleavages of the investigated natural surfaces, and remain there for several days. The model protocells in our study are able to autonomously develop, transform and pseudo-divide, and encapsulate RNA as well as DNA. We also demonstrate that they can accommodate non-enzymatic, DNA strand displacement reactions. Our findings suggest a feasible route towards the transformation from nonliving to living entities, and provide fresh support for the ‘Lipid World’ hypothesis8.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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Posted May 11, 2021.
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Spontaneous formation of prebiotic compartment colonies on Hadean Earth and pre-Noachian Mars
Elif S. Köksal, Inga Põldsalu, Henrik Friis, Stephen Mojzsis, Martin Bizzarro, Irep Gözen
bioRxiv 2021.05.11.443509; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.11.443509
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Spontaneous formation of prebiotic compartment colonies on Hadean Earth and pre-Noachian Mars
Elif S. Köksal, Inga Põldsalu, Henrik Friis, Stephen Mojzsis, Martin Bizzarro, Irep Gözen
bioRxiv 2021.05.11.443509; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.11.443509

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