From Light to Life
Abstract
The biogeochemical cycles of H, C, N, O and S are coupled via biologically catalyzed electron transfer (redox) reactions far from thermodynamic equilibrium. In this paper I examine the evolution of the structural motifs responsible for redox reactions (the biological "transistors") across the tree of life, and the photogeochemical reactions on minerals that ultimately came to be the driving force for these biological reactions.
- Publication:
-
Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
- Pub Date:
- September 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1007/s11084-015-9441-6
- Bibcode:
- 2015OLEB...45..347F
- Keywords:
-
- Redox;
- Transition metals;
- Protein structures