Table Of ContentORIGIN OF LIFE
ORIGIN OF LIFE
Proceedings oft he Third ISSOL Meeting and the
Sixth ICOL Meeting, Jerusalem, June 22-27, 1980
Edited by
YECHESKEL WOLMAN
Department of Organic Chemistry,
The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
KAPARCHfEF
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY
DORDRECHT : HOLLAND / BOSTON: U.S.A.
LONDON:ENGLAND
llbrary of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Origin of life.
Includes index.
1. Life-origin-Congresses. I. Wohnan, Yecheskel, 1935-
II. International society for the study of the origin of life (3rd:
1980: Jerusalem). III. International conference on the origin
oflife (3rd: 1980: Jerusalem)
QH325.06914 577 81-248 AACR2
ISBN-13: 978-94-009-8422-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-8420-2
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-8420-2
Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland.
Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada
by Kluwer Boston Inc.,
190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A.
In all other countries, sold and distributed
by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group,
P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Holland.
D. Reidel Publishing Company is a member of the Kluwer Group.
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 1981 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical
including photocopying, recording or by any informational storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE xi
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS xiii
R.D. BROWN / Interstellar Molecules and the Origin of Life
W.M. IRVINE, !. HJAll1ARSON and O.E.H. RYDBECK / Molecules
in Interstellar Clouds II
K.L.V. JOHANSSON / On the Origin of Organic Molecules in
Interstellar Space and Some of its Consequences 19
W.M. IRVINE, S.B. LESCHlNE and F.P. SCHLOERB / Comets and the
Origin of Life 27
A.H. DELSEMME / Nature and Origin of Organic Molecules in
Comets 33
M.D. PAPAGIANNIS / Liquid Water on a Planet over Cosmic
Periods 43
R.K. KOTRA, A. SHIMOYAMA, C. PONNA}WERUMA, P.E. HARE and
K. YANAI / Organic Analysis of the Antarctic
Carbonaceous Chondrites 51
P.G. STOKS and A.W. SCHWARTZ / Nitrogen Compounds in
Carbonaceous Meteorites: A Reassessment 59
M.R. BLOCH and H.L. WIR1R / Abiotic Organic Synthesis in
65
~~
D. MOUREY, F. RAULIN and G. TOUPANCE / Formation of Prebiotic
Precursors from Model Reducing Atmospheres: Role of
Hydrogen Escape 73
A. BOSSARD~ F. RAULIN, D. MOUREY and G. TOUPANCE / Organic
Chemical Evolution of Reducing Model of the
Atmosphere of the Primitive Earth. Role of UV
Light and Electric Discharges 83
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. BOSSARD and G. TOUPANCE / Far UV Photolysis of Methane
Water Gaseous Mixtures and the Prebiotic Synthesis
of Aldehydes 93
J.P. FERRIS, J.Y. HORIMOTO and R. BENSON / Photolysis of
CH 4- NH, Hixtures and PH3 as Mode Is for the
Photocnemical Transformations on the Primitive
Earth and Jupiter 101
F. RAULIN and C. PONNAMPERUMA / Possible Role of Phosphine
in Chemical Evolution 107
L.H. COYNE, J. LAI{LESS, N. LAHAV, S. Sutton and M. SWEENEY /
Clays as Prebiotic Photocatalysts lIS
J.P. FERRIS, K.W. ALWIS, E.H. EDELSON, N. HOUNT and
W.J. HAGAN Jr. / Clay-Hediated Reactions of HCN
Oligomers. The Effect of the Oxidation State of
the Clay 125
D.E. INGMANSON and M.J. DOWLER / Chemical Evolution and Plate
Tectonics 129
S.L. MILLER and J.E. van TRUMP / The Strecker Synthesis in
the Primitive Ocean 135
H. HALMANN, B. AURIAN-BLAJENI and S. BLOCH / Photoassisted
Carbon Dioxide Reduction and Formation of Two- and
Three-Carbon Compounds 143
A. SERBAN and A. NISSENBAUM / Melanoidin Polymers as
possible Oxygen Sinks in the Pre-biotic Oceans lSI
O. SAYGIN and P. DECKER / Formation of Energy Rich Phosphate
in Fenton's Reaction 157
C.I. SIMIONESCU, S. DUMITRIU and AL. CONSTANTINESCU /
Abiotic Synthesis of Phosphoric Esters of
Monosaccharides According to the "Cold Model" 165
K. HARADA, J. TERASAWA and H. GUNJI / Synthesis and
Degradation of Amino Acids by Contact Glow
Discharge Electrolysis, a Possible Route for
Prebiotic Formation of Bio-organic Compounds 173
H. YANAGAWA, Y. KOBAYASHI and F. EGAMI / Genesis of Amino
Acids in the Primeval Sea: Formation of Amino
Acids from Sugars and Ammonia in a Modified Sea
Medium 181
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
C.I. SIMIONESCU, B.C. SIMIONESCU, M. LEANC!, C. ANANIESCU
and R. MORA / Porphyrin-Like Compounds Genesis
under Simulated Abiotic Conditions 189
F. STOETZEL, A. SHIMOYAMA, C. PONNAMPERUMA and R. BUVET /
The Role of Analytical Procedures in the Formation
of Biochemicals from Experiments Simulating the
Chemical Evolution of Primeval Earth 197
A.D. PATEL, W.H. SCHRIER, M.A. HRNCIR and J.J. NAGYVARY /
Reduction of Thionucleosides: A Prebiotic Pathway
to Deoxyribonucleosides 201
D.W. MULLINS Jr. and J.C. LACEY Jr. / Factors Influencing
the Rate of Non-Enzymatic Activation of Carboxylic
and Amino Acids by ATP 209
A.B. VOET and A.W. SCHWARTZ / HCN Oligomerization - Isolation
and Preliminary Characterization of a New Precursor
of Adenine 217
J.R. HAWKER Jr. and J. ORO / Cyanamide Mediated Syntheses
of LEU, ALA and PHE Peptides under Plausible
Primitive Earth Conditions 225
P.K. BRIDSON, H. FAKHRAI, R. LOHRMANN, L.E. ORGEL and
M. van ROODE / Template-Directed Synthesis of
Oligoguanylic Acids - Metal Ion Catalysis 233
F. STOETZEL and R. BUVET / Chemical Evolution of Model
Systems of Primeval Earth Periphery and Thermal
Polymerization of Aqueous Solutions of Cyanides 241
S. MORIMOTO, K. KAWASHIRO, H. YOSHIDA and K. SUGIURA /
The Polymerization Products of ~-aminopropionitrile.
The Component Separation Using Cation-Exchange
Resin 247
C.I. SIMIONESCU and F. DENES / The Cold Theory of the
Origins of Life. Assumptions for the Theory
and Experimental Evidence 255
C.I. SIMIONESCU, F. DENES and M. TOTOLIN / The Appearance
of Protobiopolymers and Protomembranes in
Accordance wi th the "Cold Theory" of the Origins
of Life 263
S.W. FOX and T. NAKASHIMA / Terrestrial Evolution of
Polymerization of Amino Acids: Heat to ATP 271
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
F. KOKUFUTA and K. HARADA / Potentiometric Titration
Behavior of Polyamino Acids Prepared by
Thermal Polycondensation 277
F.R. EIRICH / On the Polycondensation of Amino Acid
Adenylates on Montmorillonites 285
M. PAECHT-HOROWITZ / Polymerization of Serine Guanylate
in the Presence of Montmorillonite 295
H. BROCH, D. CABROL and D. VASILESCU / Quantum Mechanical
Conformational Analysis of Aminoacyladenylates:
Implication in the Origin of Life 301
H. YANAGAWA and F. EGAMI / Environmental Conditions for
the Formation of Marigranules and Kinetic Studies
on the Formation 309
J. ORO, G. HOLZER, M. RAO and T.G. TORNABENE / Membrane
Lipids and the Origin of Life 313
E. GIL-AV, P.E. HARE, A. TISHBEE and S. WEINSTEIN / Resolution
of Underivatized Amino Acids by High Pressure
Liquid Chromatography, Using Chiral Eluants 323
Y.H. KIM, A. TISHBEE and E. GIL-AV / Stereoselective
Interactions of Small Biological Molecules 331
E. FRIEBELE, A. SHIMOYAMA and C. PONNAMPERUMA / Possible
Selective Adsorption of Enantiomers by Na-
Montmorrillonite 337
R.E. PINCOCK, M.D. LU and F.-N. FUNG / Spontaneous and
Induced Generation of Optical Activity in
Racemic 4,4'-Dimethyl-I,I'-Binaphthyl 347
L. ADDADI, J. van MIL, E. GATI and M. LAHAV / Amplification
of Optical Activity by Crystallization in the
Presence of Tailor-Made Additives. The "Inversion
Rule" 355
R. ARRAD-YELLIN, B.S. GREEN and M. KNOSSOW / Generation and
Amplification of Optically Active Compounds via
Inclusion in Chiral Tri-o-thymotide Clathrates 365
M. AKABOSHI, M. NODA, K. KAWAI, H. MAKI and K. KAWAMOTO /
Asymetrical Radical Formation in ~-Irradiated
D- and L- Alanines 373
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
D.W. GIDLEY, A. RICH, J.C. van HOUSE and P.W. ZITZEWITZ I
A New Experiment to Investigate the Origin of
Optical Activity Using a Low Energy Positron
Beam of Controlled Helicity 379
C. BLOMBERG, G. von HEIJNE and O. LElMAR I Competition,
Coexistence and Irreversibility in Models of
Early Molecular Evolution 385
D.H. WHITE and J.C. ERICKSON I Histidyl-Histidine Catalysis of
Glycine Condensation in Fluctuating Clay
Environments 393
D.H. WHITE I A Theory for the Origin of a Self-Reproducing
Chemical System by Natural Selection from Short,
Random Oligomers 399
G. CULLMANN I A Mathematical Method for the Enumeration of
Doublet Codes 405
T. KlEBER-EMMONS and R. REIN I Evolving Nucleotide Binding
Surfaces 415
M. SHIMIZU / Origin and Evolution of the Genetic Code 423
A. FIGUREAU and J.-M. LABOUYGUES I The Origin and Evolution
of the Genetic Code 431
T. NOGUCHI/Evolutionary Processes of the Genetic Code 439
J.C. LACEY Jr. and D.W. MULLINS Jr. / Summary of Evidence
for an Anticodonic Basis for the Origin of the
Genetic Code 447
M. ISHIGAMI and M. KINJO / Primitive Transfer RNA and
Origin of Darwinian System 457
M. SHIMIZU / Evolution of the Terrestrial Atmosphere and
its Fossils in Biosystems 465
C. WALTERS, A. SHIMOYAMA and C. PONNAMPERUMA / Organic
Geochemistry of the ISUA Supracrustals 473
H. BALTSCHEFFSKY / Secondary Structures of Polypeptides as
Evolutionary "Growing Points" 481
A. BRACK and G. SPACH / Search for Primitive Replicative
Properties on Early Polypeptides 487
x TABLE OF CONTENTS
C.M. VISSER / Emergence of Flavin Catalysis. An Approach
Based on the Concept of Bioorganic Evolution 495
D. BRICE, L. LE PORT and R. BUVET / Selective Acylability
of Amino Acids by Non-Enzymic Model Reactions
of Biochemical Transacylations 505
P. DECKER and H. SCHWEER / Experiments on Transfer of
Organic Molecular Information into Crystal
Lattice Superstructures 513
J. BARNABAS, R.M. SCHWARTZ and M.O. DAYHOFF / Phylogenetic
Sequence of Metabolic Pathways in Precambrian
Cellular Life 521
P. DECKER / Coupling to Solar Energy: Sensitized
Photoreactions - The Primary Source of Self
Organization 529
M.B. RAMBLER / Ultraviolet Selection Pressure in the
Prephanerozoic 537
M. OHBA and T. OSHIMA / DNA-Protein Complex from an Extreme
Halophile: A Histone-Like Protein in
Archaebacteria 543
R.M. SCHWARTZ and M.O. DAYHOFF / The Evolution of Blue-Greens
and the Origins of Chloroplasts 551
M.O. DAYHOFF and R.M. SCHWARTZ / Evolution of the
Rhodospirillaceae and Mitochondria: A View Based
on Sequence Data 559
J. SECKBACH and J.F. FREDRICK / On the Origin of Photo
synthetic Eukaryotic Cells: Cyanidium Caldarium as
a "Bridge" Alga Between Prokaryotic Cyanobacteria
and Eukaryotic Rhodophytes: Evidence from
Environmental, Polysaccharide Biochemistry and
Ultrastructural Studies 567
S.B. LESCHINE, K.J. MILLER and R.L. HUGUENIN / Microbial
Life in Cold Saline Environments 575
A. GINER-SOROLLA and J. ORO / Mutagens and Carcinogens:
Occurence and Role During Chemical and Biological
Evolution 583
R. BUVET / Could the Biochemical Metabolism Be Different? 589
AUTHOR INDEX 601
SUBJECT INDEX 603
PREFACE
This volume is a record of the 6th International
Conference on the Origins of Life and the 3rd Meeting of the
International Society for the Study of the Origins of Life.
The conference was held under the auspices of the Israel Academy
of Sciences and Humanities at Jerusalem from June 22nd to June
27th 1980.
A few weeks prior to the conference, Academician
Aleksander Ivanovich Oparin passed away. Oparin, the father and
founder of the study of the origins of life, proposed over 50
years ago that modern biological molecules had abidogical
origins in the past, thus the beginning of life on Earth was
preceded by a long period of abiogenic molecular evolution. Oparin
was planning to report on his latest work in the opening session
of the meeting - "Natural Selection: A Leading Factor in
Transition from the Non-Living Matter to Life". This lecture will
never be delivered.
In Hebrew we say of those who have died "may their
memory be bound with the bonds of eternal life". For Aleksander
Ivanovich Oparin those words have particular significance, for
surely his pioneering work will endure as long as the spirit of
scientific enquiry prevails. This meeting was dedicated to the
memory of Aleksander Ivanovich Oparin.
The main topics which were covered in the conference were:
organic molecules in the interstellar space and their relevance
to the study of the origins of life; meteorite analysis; abiotic
synthesis of small molecules; polymerization reactions in the
prebiotic era; the origin of optical activity; origin of the
genetic code; early biochemical evolution; fossils and micro
fossils.
One evening was dedicated to the memory of Aharon Katzir
Katchalski, a scholar, a teacher and a friend who lost his life
in a terrorist attack seven years ago. In the framework of that
evening Ilya Prigonine discussed irreversibility and evolution
followed by a panel discussion concerning new avenues in the
study of the origins of life.
Another panel discussion was devoted to Origins of Life
as a curriculum in education.
One of the main problems that was felt by most of the
participants is the barrier that exists between people from
different disciplines which are working in the field. There is
a lack of communication, astronomers speak differently from
geologists and chemists do not always understand the biologist's
xi
Y. Wolman fed.}, Origin of Life. xi-xii.
Copyright © 1981 by D. Reidel Publishing Company.
