TY - JOUR
T1 - The Release of Energy During Protein Synthesis at Ultramafic-Hosted Submarine Hydrothermal Ecosystems
AU - Dick, Jeffrey M.
AU - Shock, Everett L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper would not have been possible without the scientific influence of Harold Helgeson. Everett L. Shock acknowledges support from NASA grants 80NSSC19K1427 (Exploring Ocean Worlds) and 80NSSC20K1408 (The Habulator). Jeffrey M. Dick acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 72088101 and 41872151).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - There are fundamental geochemical reasons why environments surrounding submarine hydrothermal systems are primary productivity hotspots compared with the majority of the seafloor, or with conditions deep in seafloor sediments. As reduced hydrothermal fluids mix with oxidized seawater, elements in incompatible oxidation states are brought together. The resulting rich supplies of disequilibria can be dissipated by primary productivity over wide ranges of temperature and pressure. Synthesis of many amino acids is an energy-releasing process as fluids from submarine ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems mix with seawater, raising questions about the overall energetics of protein synthesis. Here we show that protein synthesis is also an energy-releasing process in seawater-hydrothermal fluid mixtures in ultramafic-hosted systems, and consider some implications for microbial metabolism, biogeochemical cycles, hydrothermal ecosystem dynamics, and the emergence of life at submarine hydrothermal systems.
AB - There are fundamental geochemical reasons why environments surrounding submarine hydrothermal systems are primary productivity hotspots compared with the majority of the seafloor, or with conditions deep in seafloor sediments. As reduced hydrothermal fluids mix with oxidized seawater, elements in incompatible oxidation states are brought together. The resulting rich supplies of disequilibria can be dissipated by primary productivity over wide ranges of temperature and pressure. Synthesis of many amino acids is an energy-releasing process as fluids from submarine ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems mix with seawater, raising questions about the overall energetics of protein synthesis. Here we show that protein synthesis is also an energy-releasing process in seawater-hydrothermal fluid mixtures in ultramafic-hosted systems, and consider some implications for microbial metabolism, biogeochemical cycles, hydrothermal ecosystem dynamics, and the emergence of life at submarine hydrothermal systems.
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U2 - 10.1029/2021JG006436
DO - 10.1029/2021JG006436
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85119838717
SN - 2169-8953
VL - 126
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
IS - 11
M1 - e2021JG006436
ER -