Key Points:
- Scientists have synthesized acetyl coenzyme A synthase (ACS), an enzyme, to study how early multicellular organisms stored and expended energy.
- ACS’s behavior suggests organisms in primordial soup drew energy from metals.
- ACS shows promise in the field of alternative energies.
- The study may be the first of many steps to understanding more about chemical evolution.
Thanks to an artificial protein model, scientists at Ohio State University have synthesized acetyl coenzyme A synthase (ACS), a molecule that sheds light on how multicellular organisms stored and used energy in the earth’s early days. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concludes that organisms relied heavily on metal molecules for energy.
The early planet's chemical diversity was much more limited than it is today; therefore, multicellular organisms had much less energy to create the intricate organic structures that make up the world we know. Scientists have theorized that in order to supplement energy production from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, microbes also drew energy from fields where iron and nickel abounded.
Researchers report that those first metallurgic reactions were also largely driven by an enzyme called acetyl coenzyme A synthase (ACS), a molecule essential for energy production and forming new chemical bonds.
For years, however, experts have debated whether those chemical reactions could be sparked randomly or if they followed a predetermined blueprint. The synthetic version of ACS is helping to settle that debate. According to Hannah Shafaat, the study’s co-author and professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State University, ACS’s artificial model provides insight into how the original molecule behaved during the planet’s nascence.
Initial studies demonstrate that the chemical reactions involving ACS are not activated randomly, and are instead gradually assembled piece by piece. Shafaat explained that even basic enzymes like ACS may have supported the planet’s early life. This is important because it helps scientists comprehend what may have initially materialized out of the primordial soup.
Studying the newly synthesized ACS has implications wider than just understanding how early Earth organisms developed. The researchers say the study could be the first step in finding a natural energy source that could replace the gasoline and oil humans overuse.
Data provided by Ohio State University.