Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Sci Adv. 2018 Apr 4;4(4):eaao7265. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aao7265. eCollection 2018 Apr.
Wächtershäuser's proposal of the autotrophic origin of life theory and subsequent laboratory demonstrations of relevant organic reactions have opened a new gate for the exploration of the origin of life. However, this scenario remains controversial because, at present, it requires a high pressure of CO as a source of carbon and reducing energy, although CO must have been a trace C species on the Hadean Earth. We show that, simulating a geoelectrochemical environment in deep-sea hydrothermal fields, CO production with up to ~40% Faraday efficiency was attainable on CdS in CO-saturated NaCl solution at ≤-1 V (versus the standard hydrogen electrode). The threshold potential is readily generated in the H-rich, high-temperature, and alkaline hydrothermal vents that were probably widespread on the early komatiitic and basaltic ocean crust. Thus, Wächtershäuser's scenario starting from CO was likely to be realized in the Hadean ocean hydrothermal systems.
瓦赫特豪泽提出的自养起源生命理论以及随后对相关有机反应的实验室验证，为探索生命起源开辟了新的途径。然而，这种情况仍然存在争议，因为目前它需要高压 CO 作为碳源和还原能，尽管 CO 一定是 Hadean 地球上痕量的 C 物质。我们表明，通过模拟深海热液场中的地球电化学环境，在 CO 饱和的 NaCl 溶液中，CdS 在≤-1 V（相对于标准氢电极）时可实现高达约 40%的法拉第效率的 CO 生成。富氢、高温和碱性的热液喷口很容易产生这种富氢、高温和碱性的热液喷口，而这种热液喷口可能在早期科马提岩和玄武岩洋壳上广泛存在。因此，瓦赫特豪泽从 CO 开始的情景很可能在 Hadean 海洋热液系统中实现。
