Clues from Extremophilic Microorganisms on Earth 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Energy Sources 14.3 Conclusion References
8 Part IV: Theory and Hypotheses 15 Origin of Initial Communities of Thermophilic Extremophiles on Earth by Efficient Response to Oscillations in the Environment 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Required Conditions for the Origin of Life: Necessity of Rapid-Frequency Oscillations of Parameters 15.3 Parameters of the Environment for the Origin of Life 15.4 Formation of Prebiotic Microsystem Clusters and Their Conversion into Primary Communities of Thermophilic Extremophiles 15.5 Theoretical and Experimental Verification of the Proposed Approach 15.6 Conclusion References 16 Extremophiles and Horizontal Gene Transfer: Clues to the Emergence of Life 16.1 Introduction 16.2 T-LUCAs, LUCAs and Progenotes 16.3 Prebiotic World and T-LUCA 16.4 Emergence of LUCA 16.5 Chemical Composition of LUCA 16.6 Emergence of Cellular Life Forms 16.7 Evidence for Cellular Life Forms 16.8 The Hypotheses: Genetic First vs. Metabolism First 16.9 Extremophiles 16.10 The Viral Connection to the Origin of Life 16.11 Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) 16.12 Mechanisms of HGT 16.13 Clues to the Origins of Life and a Phylogenetic Tree 16.14 Conclusion Acknowledgment References 17 What Do the DPANN Archaea and the CPR Bacteria Tell Us about the Last Universal Common Ancestors? 17.1 Introduction 17.2 The Discovery of DPANN and CPR 17.3 Common Features of CPR and DPANN 17.4 LUCA and the Deep-Rootedness of CPR and DPANN 17.5 Short Branches, Deep Branches and Multiple LUCAs 17.6 Viruses: LUCA without ‘Cellular’ References 18 Can Biogeochemistry Give Reliable Biomarkers in the Solar System? Abbreviations 18.1 Evidence of Life in the Solar System 18.2 Extremophiles on Earth 18.3 Extremophiles in Low Orbits Around the Earth 18.4 Have There Been Extremophiles on the Moon? 18.5 Have There Been Extremophiles on Mars? 18.6 Europa is a Likely Location for an Extremophilic Ecosystem 18.7 Are There Other Environments for Extremophiles in the Solar System? 18.8 Are There Environments for Extremophiles on Exoplanets? References
9 Index
List of Illustrations
1 Chapter 1Figure 1.1 Steam condenser: (a) Collector body is a stainless cylinder, 1 or 2 l...Figure 1.2 Steam deposit sampling sites: (a) Nonsulfur steam cave site Hawai’i 1...Figure 1.3 Steam caves/vents spectra: (a) Hawai’i H1 nonsulfur cave. (b) Lassen ...Figure 1.4 Sulphur Works nonsulfur cave SW1 culture pH 4.5, 80 °C. (a) Phase con...Figure 1.5 Sulphur Works sulfur cave SW3 culture pH 4.5, 85 °C. (a) Phase contra...Figure 1.6 Sulphur Works iron vent SW4 culture, pH 4.5, 80 °C. (a) Phase contras...Figure 1.7 FISH labeled culture pH 4.5, 80 °C, isolated from iron vent, Sulphur ...Figure 1.8 Scanning electron microscope images of steam vent isolates. (a) Cell ...Figure 1.9 Iron-oxidizing environment. Heated rainwater from magmatic heat conve...Figure 1.10 Salt cave environment. (1) Rainwater recharge of the Hawaiian ground...
2 Chapter 2Figure 2.1 View of colorful filamentous algae in the red waters of the origin of...Figure 2.2 Comparison between ferruginous deposits of the Burns Formation (a) cr...Figure 2.3. Processing the selected cores for the generation of samples in an an...Figure