Mineral Surface Chemistry Control for Origin of Prebiotic Peptides

Erastova, Valentina; Degiacomi, Matteo T.; Fraser, Donald; Greenwell, H. Chris

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02248-y

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Authors

Valentina Erastova

Dr Matteo Degiacomi matteo.t.degiacomi@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Donald Fraser

Professor Chris Greenwell chris.greenwell@durham.ac.uk
Head Of Department

Abstract

Some seventy years ago, John Desmond Bernal proposed a role for clays in the origin of life. While much research has since been dedicated to the study of silicate clays, layered double hydroxides, believed to be common on the early Earth, have received only limited attention. Here we examine the role that layered hydroxides could have played in prebiotic peptide formation. We demonstrate how these minerals can concentrate, align and act as adsorption templates for amino acids, and during wetting—drying cycles, promote peptide bond formation. This enables us to propose a testable mechanism for the growth of peptides at layered double hydroxide interfaces in an early Earth environment. Our results provide insights into the potential role of mineral surfaces in mimicking aspects of biochemical reaction pathways.

Citation

Erastova, V., Degiacomi, M. T., Fraser, D., & Greenwell, H. C. (2017). Mineral Surface Chemistry Control for Origin of Prebiotic Peptides. Nature Communications, 8, Article 2033. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02248-y

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 15, 2017
Online Publication Date	Dec 11, 2017
Publication Date	Dec 11, 2017
Deposit Date	Nov 9, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Dec 11, 2017
Journal	Nature Communications
Publisher	Nature Research
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	8
Article Number	2033
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02248-y

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