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A cyanosulfidic origin of the Krebs cycle.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Abstract

The centrality of the Krebs cycle in metabolism has long been interpreted as evidence of its antiquity, and consequently, questions regarding its provenance, and whether it initially functioned as a cycle or not, have received much attention. The present report shows that prebiotic oxidation of α-hydroxy carboxylates can be achieved by UV photolysis of a simple geochemical species (HS-), which leads to α-oxo carboxylates that feature in the Krebs cycle and glyoxylate shunt. Further reaction of these products leads to almost all intermediates of the Krebs cycle proper, succinate semialdehyde bypass, and glyoxylate shunt. Fumarate, the missing Krebs cycle component, and the required α-hydroxy carboxylates can be provided by a highly related hydrogen cyanide chemistry, which also provides precursors for amino acids, nucleotides, and phospholipids.

Description

Keywords

31 Biological Sciences, 3405 Organic Chemistry, 34 Chemical Sciences, 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Journal Title

Sci Adv

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2375-2548
2375-2548

Volume Title

7

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)