Lecture 12 - Origins of Life Chp15
Lecture 12 - Origins of Life Chp15
Lecture 12 - Origins of Life Chp15
EVOLUTIONARY
HISTORY
Origins of life
UNIT 3
Lesson 12
Chapter 15
OBJECTIVES
• Discuss when, where and how life began
• Describe the prebiotic evolution was controlled by
early atmosphere and climate
• Describe Miller-Urey Experiment
• Discuss The RNA-world hypothesis
• What were the first organisms like
• Timeline of events
EARLY EARTH AND
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
Early Atmosphere
Probably contained CO2, CO,
Nitrogen, Ammonia, Methane
But, No Oxygen!
(wouldn’t support life)
3.8 BYA
Earth cooled enough for liquid
water to form
Chemical conditions of the early Earth
● Four requirements for the
current model for chemical
evolution of life were likely met
in the early Earth
1. little or no free oxygen
2. abundant energy sources
● volcanism, thunderstorms, and
bombardment with particles and
radiation from space
● especially important is more UV
radiation than today
● the sun was hotter, producing more
UV light
● the Earth had no ozone layer to
filter out most of the UV light
coming in
Chemical conditions of the early Earth
● Four requirements for the current model for chemical
evolution of life were likely met in the early Earth
4. time – there was plenty of time before the first traces of life
from 3.8 bya
How old is this planet anyway?
• The Universe is probably ~13 billion years
old (Big Bang Theory/Doppler Shift)
• Earth is ~4.6 billion years old (begins with
cooling of crust/solidification)
• Earliest records of life ~3.5 billion years
ago
• First humans (Australopithecus), 0.005
billion years ago
• Discovery of Australopithecus fossils ,
0.0000000002 billion years ago
When did life begin?
• Earth is App. 4.6 billion years old
• How long did it took the crust to solidify?
• How far is the oldest fossil dated back to?
• How old are prokaryotes? When was the first
divergence of Bacteria and Archae?
When Did life Begin?
• Three theories
• Creationism
• Extraterrestrial origin (Panspermia)
• Spontaneous Origin
Theories of early earth
I. Early Theory: conditions on early Earth made the origin of life possible
Figure 16.9
Objective: Describe the
prebiotic evolution
15.2 SCIENTIFIC THINKING: THINKING:
Experiments show that the abiotic synthesis of
organic molecules is possible
Oparin/Haldane
Miller /Urey
Objective: Describe Miller-
Urey experiment
15.2 SCIENTIFIC THINKING: Experiments show that the abiotic
synthesis of organic molecules is possible
35
• STEP 3: Laboratory experiments demonstrate that
small membrane-bounded sacs or vesicles form
when lipids are mixed with water.
41
Chemical Evolution
at Hydrothermal Vents
42
Heterotrophic
Prokaryotes formed
43
Autotrophophic Prokaryotes formed
44
Oxygen & Ozone Layer formed
• As a by-product of the photosynthetic activity of
autotrophs, oxygen was released and accumulated in the
atmosphere. The interaction of UV light and oxygen
produced the ozone layer.
• As a result of the formation of the ozone layer,
incoming UV light was absorbed, preventing it from
reaching the surface of the earth. Thus, the major
source of energy for the abiotic synthesis of organic
molecules and primitive cells was terminated.
45
Eukaryotes Formed
• Endosymbiotic Theory
• Eukaryotic cells originated from a mutually
beneficial association (symbiosis) among
various kinds of prokaryotes.
• Mitochondria, chloroplasts, and other
organelles established residence inside
another prokaryote, producing a eukaryote .
46
Endosymbiotic Theory
47
STEP 4
• Today’s cell
• Store genetic information as DNA
• Transcribe information into RNA then
translate RNA messages into proteins.
• DNA🡪RNA🡪protein
• More than likely it has emerged gradually
through a series of much simpler processes.
Self-Replicating RNA
(What were the first genes like?)
• One hypothesis is that they were short strands of self-
replicating RNA.
• Experiments show that short RNA molecules can
assemble spontaneously from nucleotide monomers.
• In early earth:
• i) RNA monomers adhere to clay particles and become
conc.
• ii) some monomers spontaneously join, forming the first
sm. genes
• iii) then an RNA chain complementary to one of these
genes assembles
• The origin of self-replicating molecules
• RNA molecules can assemble spontaneously from RNA monomers.
• When RNA is added to a solution containing a supply of RNA
monomers, new RNA molecules complementary to parts of the starting
RNA sometimes assemble.
• Some RNA molecules, called ribozymes, can carry out enzyme-like
functions, supporting this hypothesis.
THE RNA WORLD
HYPOTHESIS
• 5. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that
RNA sequences can evolve in abiotic conditions.
• RNA molecules have both a genotype and a
phenotype w/c interacts with surrounding molecules.
• Under particular conditions, some RNA sequences
are more stable and replicate faster and with fewer
errors than other sequences.
• Occasional copying errors create mutations
SELF REPLICATING RNA
● genetic reproduction was crucial in the
origin of true life
● RNA likely was first (RNA world
hypothesis)
● RNA can catalyze a variety of
reactions, including some self-
catalytic reactions
● RNA can also store genetic
information
● in vitro evolution of RNA has
shown that the RNA world
hypothesis is feasible – selection can
act on self-replicating RNA
molecules in vitro
● DNA likely came later and had the
selective advantage of greater stability
• The precursors of early life are known as
Protobionts/Protocells.
• a. Protobionts form spontaneously in lab experiments from
mixtures of organic molecules.
• b. They contain RNA that codes for metabolic proteins.
These protobionts absorb food and the proteins catalyze it
to make energy which can be used for growth and division
to daughter cells.
• c. Natural selection would favor protobionts that grow and
replicate. When the organic molecules in the earth’s water
bodies were gone, the protobionts would “evolve” to either
obtain energy by photosynthesis or predation.
• 🡪 It would only take the creation and evolution of one (1)
protobiont to give rise to the all the different organisms we
see today.
MAJOR EVENTS IN THE
HISTORY OF LIFE
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/selection/time/
15.4 The origins of single-celled and multicellular
organisms and the colonization of land were key events in
life’s history
• Prokaryotes lived alone on Earth for 1.5 billion years, from 3.5
to 2 billion years ago.
• During this time, prokaryotes transformed the atmosphere.
• Prokaryotic photosynthesis produced oxygen that enriched the
water and atmosphere of Earth.
• Aerobic cellular respiration allowed prokaryotes to flourish.
❑ The oldest fossils of eukaryotes are about 1.8 billion years old.
❑
❑ - Symbiotic community of prokaryotes living within larger prokaryotes. 🡪
Mitochondria and chloroplasts
❑ The common ancestor of all multicellular eukaryotes lived about 1.5 billion
years ago.
❑ The oldest fossils of multicellular eukaryotes are about 1.2 billion years old.
❑ The first multicellular plants and fungi began to colonize land about 500
million years ago.
Eukaryotic cells descended from
prokaryotic cells
● eukaryotes first appear in
the fossil record about 2
bya, long after prokaryotic
cells
● DNA sequencing provides
evidence of common
ancestry of all life on Earth,
with eukaryotes splitting
from Archaea about 2 bya
● recall the endosymbiotic
theory – model for how at
least some of the eukaryotic
cell organelles came to exist
Endosymbiosis theory (Lynn Margulis, 1970’s)
Banded iron formations are evidence of the age of oxygenic photosynthesis –
approximately 2 BYA in photo
The oldest animal fossils are ~700 million
years old.
● trilobites
● brachiopods
● molluscs
● insects,
• Stromatolites
● are rocklike structures made
up of layers of bacteria and
sediment
• Prokaryotic mats.
• Top layers
• Lower layers
• in some areas stromatolites
are still being formed today
Bacterial mats and Stromatolites
15.5 The actual ages of rocks and fossils mark
geologic time