The DOI matches its Crossref record; 87 of the 87 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
On the origin of genomes and cells within inorganic compartments
Open accessAbstract
Building on the model of Russell and Hall for the emergence of life at a warm submarine hydrothermal vent, we suggest that, within a hydrothermally formed system of contiguous iron-sulfide (FeS) compartments, populations of virus-like RNA molecules, which eventually encoded one or a few proteins each, became the agents of both variation and selection. The initial darwinian selection was for molecular self-replication. Combinatorial sorting of genetic elements among compartments would have resulted in preferred proliferation and selection of increasingly complex molecular ensembles--those compartment contents that achieved replication advantages. The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) we propose was not free-living but an inorganically housed assemblage of expressed and replicable genetic elements. The evolution of the enzymatic systems for (i) DNA replication; and (ii) membrane and cell wall biosynthesis, enabled independent escape of the first archaebacterial and eubacterial cells from their hydrothermal hatchery, within which the LUCA itself remained confined.
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“This early evolution necessarily involved competition between ensembles of virus-like genetic elements and selection at the level of such collectives (43, 75, 76).”
From Origin and Evolution of the Universal Genetic Code (2017) · cites this paper as [43]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“In short, the microchambers of alkaline hydrothermal vent systems meet all the basic requirements for a venue for the origin and development of life [94,95].”
From Opinion: The Key Steps in the Origin of Life to the Formation of the Eukaryotic Cell (2024) · cites this paper as [95]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“That dichotomy is also mirrored by a number of other cellular, molecular and gene homology attributes, indicating that the deepest, most ancient split in the prokaryotic world is that separating eubacteria from archaebacteria [111,116,122].”
From Early bioenergetic evolution (2013) · cites this paper as [116]
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In the citing paper
“We think all the developments up to this point took place in a vent microchamber complex [95].”
From Opinion: The Key Steps in the Origin of Life to the Formation of the Eukaryotic Cell (2024) · cites this paper as [95]
In the citing paper
“This early evolution is thought to have involved competition between ensembles of “virus-like” genetic elements and selection at the level of such collectives [30,31,32].”
From Frozen Accident Pushing 50: Stereochemistry, Expansion, and Chance in the Evolution of the Genetic Code (2017) · cites this paper as [32]
In the citing paper
“Taken at face value, these data suggest that cellularization, in the sense of being encapsulated in such a way that enabled full autonomy, evolved after LUCA [50,64] (Table 1, criterion 5).”
From ‘Whole Organism’, Systems Biology, and Top-Down Criteria for Evaluating Scenarios for the Origin of Life (2021) · cites this paper as [50]
In the citing paper
“Top-down data also indicate that a complex metabolism predated ribozymes and enzymes, and that full cellular autonomy and motility occurred post-LUCA.”
From ‘Whole Organism’, Systems Biology, and Top-Down Criteria for Evaluating Scenarios for the Origin of Life (2021) · cites this paper as [50]
In the citing paper
“Under the microchamber complex scenario this divergence occurred within the ancestral microchamber complex [50,64].”
From ‘Whole Organism’, Systems Biology, and Top-Down Criteria for Evaluating Scenarios for the Origin of Life (2021) · cites this paper as [50]
In the citing paper
“Archaea and Bacteria use unrelated pathways to synthesize chemically distinct membrane phospholipids; therefore, it has been proposed that LUCA did not use phospholipids in its membrane, and may have used mineral structure as a means of compartmentation or been totally acellular (Koonin and Martin 2005;Koga et al. 1998).”
From Environmental Adaptation from the Origin of Life to the Last Universal Common Ancestor (2018) · cites this paper as Koonin and Martin 2005
In the citing paper
“Archaea and Bacteria use unrelated pathways to synthesize chemically distinct membrane phospholipids; therefore, it has been proposed that LUCA did not use phospholipids in its membrane, and may have used mineral structure as a means of compartmentation or been totally acellular (Koonin and Martin 2005;Koga et al. 1998).”
From Environmental Adaptation from the Origin of Life to the Last Universal Common Ancestor (2018) · cites this paper as Koonin and Martin 2005
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Citations
Cites
The Hypercycle: A principle of natural self-organization
Eigen, M., & Schuster, P. M. (1979) · Cited by 1,906
A principle of natural self-organization: Part A: Emergence of the hypercycle
Eigen, M., & Schuster, P. (1977) · Naturwissenschaften · doi:10.1007/bf00450633 · Cited by 1,752
A Serpentinite-Hosted Ecosystem: The Lost City Hydrothermal Field
Kelley, D. S., Karson, J. A., Früh-Green, G. L., Yoerger, D. R., Shank, T. M., Butterfield, D. A., Hayes, J. M., Schrenk, M. O., Olson, E. J., Proskurowski, G., et al. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1102556 · Cited by 1,288
The Hydrogen Hypothesis for the First Eukaryote
Martin, W., & Müller, M. (1998) · Nature · doi:10.1038/32096 · Cited by 1,282
Self-citationSnijder, E. J., Bredenbeek, P. J., Dobbe, J. C., Thiel, V., Ziebuhr, J., Poon, L. L. M., Guan, Y., Rozanov, M. N., Spaan, W. J. M., & Gorbalenya, A. E. (2003) · Journal of Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/s0022-2836(03)00865-9 · Cited by 1,188
An off-axis hydrothermal vent field near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 30° N
Party, T. A.-6. S., Kelley, D. S., Karson, J. A., Blackman, D. K., Früh-Green, G. L., Butterfield, D. A., Lilley, M. D., Olson, E. J., Schrenk, M. O., Roe, K. K., et al. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35084000 · Cited by 1,168
Woese, C. (1998) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.95.12.6854 · Cited by 1,053
A minimal gene set for cellular life derived by comparison of complete bacterial genomes
Mushegian, A. R., & Koonin, E. V. (1996) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.93.19.10268 · Cited by 916
Self-citationMartin, W., & Russell, M. J. (2003) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2002.1183 · Cited by 856
Self-citationThe emergence of life from iron monosulphide bubbles at a submarine hydrothermal redox and pH front
RUSSELL, M. J., & HALL, A. J. (1997) · Journal of the Geological Society · doi:10.1144/gsjgs.154.3.0377 · Cited by 822
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Penny, D. An interpretative review of the origin of life research. Biol. Philos. (in press)
- Altstein, 1987, Origin of the genetic system, Mol. Biol., 21, 309
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Sorted by citations
Items 401–404 of 404
System-Evolutionary View of RNA Presence in Living Cells
Segerståhl, M., & Jalasvuori, M. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-24295-2_15
A Hadean timeline for the emergence of the RNA World
Abramov, O., Medvegy, A., Kremer, B., & Mojzsis, S. J. (2026) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76978-3
Björnerås, J. (2014) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Metadata
- Authors
- Koonin, E. V., & Martin, W.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Koonin, Eugene V.
- Venue
- Trends in Genetics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-12
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 647-654
- ISSN
- 0168-9525 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7172762
- OpenAlex
- W2141847401
- Cited by
- 406
- References
- 87
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 2.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Trends in Genetics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Keywords
- origin of life, hydrothermal vents, Darwinian selection, last universal common ancestor, compartmentalization, membrane biosynthesis, cell wall biosynthesis, archaea, eubacteria, origin of cells
- MeSH terms
- Origin of Life, DNA, RNA, Genome, Bacterial, Evolution, Molecular, Genome, Archaeal
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