FIRST CELL CONCEPT

SUMMARY
According to the Oparin Haldane Theory the origin of life on earth took place by a series
of chemical and biological events.

I
Chemical evolution formed inorganic molecules, organic molecules and finally

R
macromolecules.

U
After chemical a evolution biological evolution took place that produced the protocell and

H
finally the cell.

D
AU
Life on earth originated at least 3.8 billion years ago, approximately 780 million years
after earth was formed. How life originated and how the first cell came into being are

H
matters of speculation since these events cannot be reproduced in the laboratory.
C
However, several theories & experiments have thrown important light to the steps &
process of origin of life & origin of cells.
AY
R
A
AT
AG
TH
TA

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 1

 OPARIN- HALDANE THEORY OF ORIGIN OF LIFE
According to the Oparin Haldane Theory the origin of life on earth took place as a result
of physicochemical changes that brought about a gradual evolution of inorganic &
organic compounds respectively ( ie chemical evolution)
After chemical a evolution biological evolution took place that produced the protocell and
finally the cell.

I
The steps in the origin of first cell from the primitive earth conditions is discussed below:

R
U
CONDITIONS OF PRIMITIVE EARTH :

H
• At the time of origin (4.6 billion years ago) the temperature of earth was 50000-6000

D
degree centigrades and the atmosphere was rich in methane (CH4), cyanogen (CN),

AU
hydrogen (H2), ammonia (NH3) & water (H2O).
• As the earth began to cool, its matter began to condense and due to high temperature
water could exist only as vapour.

H
• The primitive atmosphere was reducing & free oxygen was not present.
C
• The origin of cell took place in two steps Chemical Evolution and Biological Evolution
9
AY

CHEMICAL EVOLUTION
The different steps of Chemical Evolution are a discussed below:
R

1. THE ATOMIC PHASE :

A

Due to very high temperature (5000C-6000°C) early earth had all the elements in the
form of free atoms (H2, O2, Carbon, Nitrogen, Sulpher, Phosphorus etc).
AT

As the earth cooled & condensed, heavier elements (nickel, iron, copper etc) passed to
the core of earth, intermediate (silicon, aluminium, sodium, potassium, magnesium,
AG

phosphorus, sulphur etc) moved to the middle of the lighter elements (hydrogen, nitrogen,
carbon, oxygen) remains in the surface in the atmosphere and in there atomic state
TH

because of the hot earth surface.

2. FORMATION OF EARLY MOLECULES:

TA

1. Hydrogen atoms were the most reactive free atoms among all elements, in earliest
atmosphere

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 2

 2. Gradual fall in earth surface temperature allowed hydrogen and other lighter elements
to interact & form elements like water, methane, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide & oxide of
carbon.
3. During water formation with the combination of hydrogen & oxygen, all free oxygen
disappeared & environment became reducing.
4. Initially water existed in the form of superheated steam which are as a non cooling

I
became hot water rain and evaporated again. This rain water ultimately accumulated in

R
the form of oceans, lakes, river etc.

U
3. FORMATION OF SIMPLE ORGANIC MOLECULES :

H
1. Oceans & lakes became rich in salts gradually by dissolving large amount of early

D
compounds (ammonia, methane, hydrogen cyanide, nitrides, carbides, various gases &

AU
elements) in water.
2.Formation of methane preceded formation of hydrogen cyanide, the high concentration
of these simple organic compounds in sea water induced them to react with each other

H
& produce some unsaturated hydrocarbons like ethylene, acetylene, aldehydes, ketones,
C
alcohol & organic acids.
3. As a result of further interaction of these saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons,
AY

some simple organic compounds such as:

• Simple sugars like glucose, ribose, deoxyribose
R

• Nitrogenous bases like adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine uracil.

• Amino acids,
A

• Fatty acids & Glycerols were formed.

AT

4. The energy required for such interaction to take place came from the following
sources:
AG

• Solar radiations like UV light, cosmic rays & Xrays.

• Electric discharges from lightning.
• High energy radiations (radiations from radioactive instable isotopes on primitive
TH

earth
5. Such interactions led to changing of water bodies into a broth or primordial soup. 6.
TA

Experimental support to approve the formation of simple organic molecules from early
molecules came from the experiments by Urey & Muller, Hargovind Khorana, Sidney Fox
& Melvin Calvin etc.

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 3

 I
R
U
H
D
AU
H
C
AY
R
A
AT
AG
TH
TA

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 4

 6.Spontaneous formation of organic molecules was first demonstrated by Urey & Miller.
They showed that the discharge of electric Sparks into a mixture of H2, CH4 & NH3 in the
presence of water, leads to the formation of variety of organic molecules including amino
acids, carboxylic acids, nucleic acids and sugars.
7.There is abundant evidence indicating that major volcanic eruptions occurred 4 billion
years ago; these would have released carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2), hydrogen sulfide

I
(H2S), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the atmosphere.

R
U
Experiments using these gases in addition to the ones in the original Miller–Urey
experiment have produced a more diverse list of organic products:

H
• All five bases that are present in DNA and RNA (i.e., A, T, C, G, and U)

D
• All of the 20 amino acids used in protein synthesis

AU
• Many 3- to 6-carbon sugars
• Certain fatty acids
• Vitamin B6 (pantothenic acid, a component of coenzyme A)

H
• Nicotinamide (part of NAD, which is involved in energy metabolism)
C
• Carboxylic acids such as succinic and lactic acids (also involved in energy metabolism)
AY

Such experiments clearly demonstrated that plausibility of the spontaneous synthesis of

organic molecules providing the basic materials from which the first cells arose.
R
A

4. FORMATION OF LARGER ORGANIC MOLECULES :

AT

1. By polymerization of simple organic molecules; larger organic molecules were formed

in the primitive atomosphere
• Amino acids polymerized to peptides & polypeptides
AG

• Sugar molecules into polysaccharides

• Glycerol and fatty acids into fat
TH

• Nucleotides were formed by combination of nitrogenous bases.

2. All these reactions took place without enzymes, ribosomes & other cell components.
TA

5. FORMATION OF COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULES :

1. A number of hydrocarbons, purines, pyrimidines bases, amino acids, fatty acids,
sugars & other organic compounds accumulated in primitive seas.

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 5

 2.In the primitive atmosphere energy for polymerisation might have been provided by
electrical discharge, lightning, solar energy, ATP and phosphate.

3.Nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) was formed by the polymerisation of nucleotides.

4. Due to this process enzymes, coenzymes, ATP, porphyrin molecules came into
existence.

SITE OF POLYMERIZATION:

I
R
Scientists have used a number of model systems to try to simulate conditions under

U
which polymers might have been made. Each of these systems is based on several

H
observations and speculations:
• CLAY MODEL: Solid mineral surfaces, such as powder like clays, have large surface

D
areas. scientists speculate that the silicates in clay may have catalyzed (speeded up) the

AU
condensation reactions that resulted in organic polymers.
•HYDROTHERMAL VENT MODEL: Hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean, where hot
water emerges from beneath Earth’s crust, lack oxygen gas and contain metals such as

H
iron and nickel. In laboratory experiments, these metals have been shown to catalyse the
C
polymerization of amino acids in the absence of oxygen.
• PRIMORDIAL SOUP MODEL: In hot pools at the edges of oceans, evaporation may have
AY

concentrated monomers to the point where polymerization was favored .

In whatever ways the earliest stages of chemical evolution occurred, they resulted in the
R

emergence of monomers and polymers that have probably remained unchanged in their
general structures and functions for several billion years.
A
AT
AG
TH
TA

STEPS OF CHEMICAL EVOLUTION

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 6

 BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION

The critical characteristic of the macromolecule which life evolved must have been the
ability of it to from replicate itself. Only a macromolecule capable of directing the
synthesis of new copies of itself would have been capable of reproduction & further
evolution.

I
Of the two major classes of informational macromolecules in present day cells (nucleic

R
acids & proteins) only the nucleic acids are capable of directing their self replication.

U
However, replication of DNA requires proteins (enzymes like DNA polymerase) while

H
proteins are synthesized from DNA and is unstable. So for the origin of life, this results
in a chicken-or-egg problem. Which came first, the genetic material (nucleic acids) or

D
proteins?

AU
Two ideas have emerged. One suggests that sequential catalytic changes (primitive
metabolism) came first. The other suggests that replication by nucleic acids preceded
metabolism

H
C
CHEMICAL CHANGES (METABOLISM) FIRST
In this model, life began in tiny droplets, or compartments, that concentrated and sepa-
AY

rated their contents from the external environment.

Within such a chemically rich environment, some substances could occasionally
R

and randomly undergo chemical changes.

Proponents of this model speculate that those compartments where the changes
A

were effective for survival in the environment might even have been selected for growth
AT

and some primitive form of reproduction.

The German scientist Günter Wächtershäuser proposed that catalysis and reproduction
AG

could have occurred without proteins on a mineral called pyrite (iron disulfide), which
has been found at hydrothermal vents and which could serve as a source of energy for
polymerization reactions.
TH

Over time, nucleic acids and eventually proteins might have formed in the concentrated
droplets. Then, in some of these proteins, the ability to catalyze biochemical reactions—
including the replication of nucleic acids—could have evolved.
TA

REPLICATOR FIRST
In this model, the genetic material—nucleic acids—came first. The nucleotide building
blocks made by prebiotic chemistry came together to form polymers.

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 7

 Some of these polymers might have had the right shape to be catalytic so that
they could reproduce themselves and catalyze
other chemical transformations.
Such transformations might have included
the synthesis of proteins, just as RNA is
translated into proteins in living organisms

I
today

R
Along the way, those molecules that were best

U
adapted to the environment would
survive and reproduce. Eventually they would

H
have become incorporated

D
into living cells.

AU
A critical discovery, in understanding the
molecular evolution was that RNA
can act both as a carrier of information &

H
capable of self-replication.
C
RNA is generally believed to be the initial
genetic system, and an early stage of chemical
AY

evolution is thought to have been based on

self-replicating RNA molecules -
R

a period of evolution known as the RNA world.

Given that RNA can be both informational (in

A

its nucleotide sequence) and catalytic (because

AT

of its ability to form unique three-dimensional

shapes), it has been hypothesized that early
AG

life consisted of an “RNA world”—a world

before DNA. It is thought that when RNA was
first made, it could have acted as a catalyst for
TH

its own replication as well as for the synthesis of proteins.

Ordered interactions between RNA & amino acids then evolved into the present day
TA

genetic code & DNA eventually replaced RNA as the genetic material.

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 8

 The proposed steps that led to formation of cells are discussed below.

FORMATION OF COACERVATE/ MICROSPHERES

Coacervate droplets are complexes of two or more polymers of markedly different
composition where as proteinoid microsphere consists mainly of a family of
compositionally closely related copolyamino acids.

I
R
Oparin believed that life developed from coacervates, microscopic spontaneously formed

U
spherical aggregates of lipid molecules that are held together by electrostatic forces may

H
have been precursors of cells. Oparin’s work with coacervates confirmed that enzymes
fundamental for the biochemical reactions of metabolism functioned more efficiently

D
when contained within membrane-bound spheres than when free in aqueous solutions.

AU
FORMATION OF PROTOCELL
• Key to the emergence of living cells was the prebiotic generation of compartments

H
enclosed by membranes. Such enclosed compartments permitted the generation and
C
maintenance of internal chemical conditions that were different from those in the
exterior environment.
AY

Jack Szostak and his colleagues at Harvard University showed that under laboratory
conditions fatty acids assemble into protocells that have some of the characteristics of
R

cells.
Features of Protocell:
A

• Large molecules such as DNA or RNA could not pass through the bilayer to enter the
AT

protocells, but small molecules such as sugars and individual nucleotides could.
• Nucleic acids inside the protocells could replicate using the nucleotides from outside.
AG

When the investigators placed a short nucleic acid strand capable of self-replication
inside protocells and added nucleotides to the watery environment outside, the
nucleotides crossed the barrier, entered the protocells, and became incorporated into new
TH

polynucleotide chains. This replication, which can occur without protein catalysis, may
have been the first step toward cell reproduction.
TA

Similarity of Protocell and Cell

The protocells could not fully reproduce, nor could they carry out all the metabolic
reactions that take place in modern cells. The simple lipid bilayer had few of the

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 9

 sophisticated functions of modern cell membranes. Nevertheless, the protocell may be a
reasonable facsimile of a cell as it evolved billions of years ago:
• It can act as an organized system of parts, with substances interacting and
reacting, in some cases catalytically.
• Reveals a double layer boundary corresponding to cell membrane
• It includes an interior that is distinct from the exterior environment.

I
• It is capable of self-replication, dividing by binary fission.

R
These are all fundamental characteristics of living cells.

U
H
D
AU
H
C
AY
R
A
AT

FIG: In a series of experiments, Jack Szostak and his colleagues mixed fatty acid molecules in water. The
molecules formed spherical structures called protocells, with water surrounded by bilayers of fatty acids.
AG

FORMATION OF FIRST CELL

Alonso Ricardo and Jack W. Szostak (2009) proposed the following plausible sequence of
some of the major events that led from the first protocell to DNA based cells :
TH

( Jack W. Szostak won the Nobel Prize in 2009)

1. The first protocell is just a sac of water and RNA and requires an external stimulus
(such as cycles of heat and cold) to reproduce.
TA

2. ORIGIN OF RNA CATALYSTS: Ribozymes—folded RNA molecules analogous to protein-

based enzymes arise and take on such jobs as speeding up reproduction and
strengthening the protocell’s membrane. Consequently, protocells begin to reproduce on
their own.

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 10

 3. BEGINNING OF METABOLISM: Some of the ribozymes catalyze metabolism ie chains
of chemical reactions that enable protocells to tap into nutrients from the environment.

I
R
U
H
D
AU
H
4. PROTEINS APPEAR : Complex systems of RNA catalysts begin to translate strings
of RNA letters (genes) into chains of amino acids (proteins). Proteins later proved to be
C
more efficient catalysts and able to carry out a variety of tasks.
AY

5.PROTEINS TAKE OVER: Proteins take on a wide range of tasks within the cell. Protein-
based catalysts, or enzymes, gradually replace most ribozymes.
R
A
AT
AG
TH
TA

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 11

 6. THE BIRTH OF DNA : Enzymes ( Reverse Transcriptase od similar type) begin to make
DNA. Due to its superior stability,DNA takes on the role of primary genetic molecule.
RNA’s main role is now to act as a bridge between DNA and proteins.

7. BACTERIAL WORLD: Organisms resembling modern bacteria evolve.

I
R
U
H
D
AU
H
C
AY
R
A
AT
AG
TH
TA

COMPILED BY DR TATHAGATA RAY CHAUDHURI 12