Abstract
Some seventy years ago, John Desmond Bernal proposed a role for clays in the origin of life. While much research has since been dedicated to the study of silicate clays, layered double hydroxides, believed to be common on the early Earth, have received only limited attention. Here we examine the role that layered hydroxides could have played in prebiotic peptide formation. We demonstrate how these minerals can concentrate, align and act as adsorption templates for amino acids, and during wetting—drying cycles, promote peptide bond formation. This enables us to propose a testable mechanism for the growth of peptides at layered double hydroxide interfaces in an early Earth environment. Our results provide insights into the potential role of mineral surfaces in mimicking aspects of biochemical reaction pathways.
Highlights
Some seventy years ago, John Desmond Bernal proposed a role for clays in the origin of life
Irrespective of the identity of the amino acid, the layered double hydroxides (LDH) interlayer dehydrates with the same trend, indicating that the basal d-spacing is proportional to the number of atoms present in the interlayer, rather than the charge on amino acids (Supplementary Fig. 2a)
The water expelled from these regions leads to swelling of neighboring areas. This peristaltic-like phenomenon is apparent in the case of a leucine and tyrosine at 15 waters per amino acid (W/AA)
Summary
John Desmond Bernal proposed a role for clays in the origin of life. Adsorption and arrangement of amino acids onto the LDH surface, as well as their concentration dependence and trends in a wetting—drying cycle, reveals possible mechanisms for peptide formation. Except lysine, show a constant increase in amino acid adsorption on the LDH surface (Fig. 2a) upon dehydration.
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