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Cited by 13Origins and Evolution of LifePaleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEarth Systems and Cosmic Evolution

Ancient Living Organisms Escaping from, or Imprisoned in, the Vents?

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Jackson, J.·2017·Life
DOI 10.3390/life7030036PMC PMC5617961
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Abstract

We have recently criticised the natural pH gradient hypothesis which purports to explain how the difference in pH between fluid issuing from ancient alkali vents and the more acidic Hadean ocean could have driven molecular machines that catalyse reactions that are useful in prebiotic and autotrophic chemistry. In this article, we temporarily suspend our earlier criticism while we consider difficulties for primitive organisms to have managed their energy supply and to have left the vents and become free-living. We point out that it may have been impossible for organisms to have acquired membrane-located proton (or sodium ion) pumps to replace the natural pH gradient, and independently to have driven essential molecular machines such as the ATP synthase. The volumes of the ocean and of the vent fluids were too large for a membrane-located pump to have generated a significant ion concentration gradient. Our arguments apply to three of the four concurrent models employed by the proponents of the natural pH gradient hypothesis. A fourth model is exempt from these arguments but has other intrinsic difficulties that we briefly consider. We conclude that ancient organisms utilising a natural pH gradient would have been imprisoned in the vents, unable to escape and become free-living.

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  • The switch to photosynthesis must have been necessarily rapid because as soon as the chemotrophic organisms dispersed from the vent environment, they would be starved of source materials and energy in the much more dilute and cooler surrounding ocean.

    “The switch to photosynthesis must have been necessarily rapid because as soon as the chemotrophic organisms dispersed from the vent environment, they would be starved of source materials and energy in the much more dilute and cooler surrounding ocean (Jackson, 2017).”

    From The Hot Spring Hypothesis for an Origin of Life (2020) · cites this paper as Jackson, 2017

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Jackson, J.
Affiliations
University of Birmingham (GB)
Corresponding author
Jackson, J.
Venue
Life
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2017-09-15
Volume
7
Issue
3
Pages
36
ISSN
2075-1729 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/life7030036
PMC
PMC5617961
OpenAlex
W2755449558
Cited by
13
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2
FWCI
0.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Life (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
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 › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution
Keywords
origin of life, prebiotic chemistry, autotrophic metabolism, proton pump, ATP synthase, ion gradients

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