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Cited by 107Origins and Evolution of LifePaleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsMethane Hydrates and Related Phenomena

Hydrogen Consumption by Methanogens on the Early Earth

Kral, Timothy A., Brink, Keith M., Miller, Stanley L., McKay, Christopher P.·1998·Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere
DOI 10.1023/a:1006552412928
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Abstract

It is possible that the first autotroph used chemical energy rather than light. This could have been the main source of primary production after the initial inventory of abiotic organic material had been depleted. The electron acceptor most readily available for use by this first chemoautotroph would have been CO2. The most abundant electron donor may have been H2 that would have been outgassing from volcanoes at a rate estimated to be as large as 10(12) moles yr-1, as well as from photo-oxidation of Fe+2. We report here that certain methanogens will consume H2 down to partial pressures as low as 4 Pa (4 x 10(-5) atm) with CO2 as the sole carbon source at a rate of 0.7 ng H2 min-1 microgram-1 cell protein. The lower limit of pH2 for growth of methanogens can be understood on the basis that the pH2 needs to be high enough for one ATP to be synthesized per CO2 reduced. The pH2 values needed for growth measured here are consistent with those measured by Stevens and McKinley for growth of methanogens in deep basalt aquifers. H2-consuming autotrophs are likely to have had a profound effect on the chemistry of the early atmosphere and to have been a dominant sink for H2 on the early Earth after life began rather than escape from the Earth's atmosphere to space.

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Crossref · 10.1023/a:1006552412928

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23 of 23 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The Archean lower atmosphere is unlikely to have been H2-rich given the antiquity of methanogens.

    “The Archean lower atmosphere is unlikely to have been H2-rich given the antiquity of methanogens (23, 51, 197), some of which convert H2 into methane through a net reaction”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [197]

  • Some methanogens convert H2 into methane.

    “The Archean lower atmosphere is unlikely to have been H2-rich given the antiquity of methanogens (23, 51, 197), some of which convert H2 into methane through a net reaction”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [197]

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Authors
Kral, T. A., Brink, K. M., Miller, S. L., & McKay, C. P.
Affiliations
  • University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (US)
  • Ames Research Center (US)
ORCID
McKay, Christopher P.
Venue
Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
1998-06
Volume
28
Issue
3
Pages
311-319
ISSN
  • 0169-6149 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-0875
DOI
10.1023/a:1006552412928
OpenAlex
W1666532264
Cited by
107
References
23
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
FWCI
2.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
Keywords
methanogenic archaea, hydrogen consumption, early Earth, chemoautotrophy, CO2 reduction, hydrogen partial pressure, hydrogen outgassing, volcanic outgassing, primary production, early atmosphere, hydrogen sink, ATP production
MeSH terms
Carbon Dioxide, Culture Media, Electron Transport, Energy Metabolism, Hydrogen, Kinetics, Methane, Models, Biological, Thermodynamics, Methanobacterium, Methanococcus, Methanosarcina, Euryarchaeota

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