Energy and Matter at the origin of life

Synopsis

Essentially all living cells are chemiosmotic, meaning that they conserve energy and often drive carbon fixation using proton gradients across membranes. The mechanisms of proton pumping and energy conservation are understood at nearly atomic resolution, but almost nothing is known about the origin and evolution of chemiosmotic coupling. Its universality suggests that it must have arisen in the last universal common ancestor of life (LUCA), despite its modern complexity. Dr Lane will show how natural proton gradients in alkaline hydrothermal vents could have driven carbon fixation and energy conservation under abiotic conditions and protocellular conditions, and later, how the requirement to generate proton gradients could have driven the deep divergence between bacteria and archaea.

Speaker

Dr Nick Lane, UCL

Programme

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