4 ms·
You mean, no phosphorus means no phospholipids so no cell membranes like the ones we have now? That would seem like a shortcoming.
by geomark 6y ago
You mean, no phosphorus means no phospholipids so no cell membranes like the ones we have now? That would seem like a shortcoming.
- adrian_b 6y agoYes, the first life forms which also used phosphate and derivates like the phospholipids must have been already too complex to be believable as being the very first systems able of self replications. The role of phosphate anhydride derivatives (like ATP nowadays) in performing condensation reactions must have been initially fulfilled by sulfur compounds (thioesters & disulfides, probably just pyrite at the earliest time). The role of phospholipids in membranes must have been fulfilled by some simpler molecules combining hydrophobic with hydrophilic parts, maybe just free fatty acids in the beginning. The first membranes must have been much more permeable than the membranes used by the last common ancestor so either shorter free fatty acids or some simpler ester or ether of shorter fatty acids should have been enough for them.