Definition
Abiotic or abiogenic photosynthesis is the synthesis of organic compounds with the aid of radiant energy and various inorganic or organic catalysts.
History
In September 1912, Benjamin Moore suggested at a discussion on the origin of life, held by the joint sections of Zoology and Physiology of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, that “the first step towards the origin of life must have been the synthesis of organic matter from inorganic by the agency of inorganic colloids acting as transformers or catalysts for radiant solar energy” (Moore and Webster 1913).
Overview
In spite of Haldane’s well-known idea that UV light may have served as a driving force for formation of the first viruslike organisms (Haldane 1929), the idea of directly driving abiogenesis by solar energy had not won much support at that time, despite the fact that the Sun is by far the most powerful energy source on Earth. The...
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References and Further Reading
Guzman MI, Martin ST (2009) Prebiotic metabolism: production by mineral photoelectrochemistry of alpha-ketocarboxylic acids in the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle. Astrobiology 9(9):833–842
Haldane JBS (1929) The origin of life. Rationalist annual. Watts & Co, London, pp 3–10
Henglein A (1984) Catalysis of photochemical reactions by colloidal semiconductors. Pure Appl Chem 56(9):1215–1224
Mauzerall D, Borowska Z, Zielinski I (1993) Photo and thermal reactions of ferrous hydroxide. Orig Life Evol Biosph 23(2):105–114
Moore B, Webster TA (1913) Synthesis by sunlight in relationship to the origin of life. Synthesis of formaldehyde from carbon dioxide and water by inorganic colloids acting as transformers of light energy. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 87:163–176
Mulkidjanian AY (2009) On the origin of life in the Zinc world: 1. Photosynthetic, porous edifices built of hydrothermally precipitated zinc sulfide (ZnS) as cradles of life on Earth. Biol Direct 4:26
Mulkidjanian AY, Galperin MY (2009) On the origin of life in the Zinc world. 2. Validation of the hypothesis on the photosynthesizing zinc sulfide edifices as cradles of life on Earth. Biol Direct 4:27
Mulkidjanian AY, Bychkov AY, Dibrova DV, Galperin MY, Koonin EV (2012) Origin of first cells at terrestrial, anoxic geothermal fields. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:E821–E830
Summers DP, Noveron J, Basa RCB (2009) Energy transduction inside of amphiphilic vesicles: encapsulation of photochemically active semiconducting particles. Orig Life Evol Biosph 39:127–140
Tivey MK (2007) Generation of seafloor hydrothermal vent fluids and associated mineral deposits. Oceanography 20(1):50–65
Zhang XV, Martin ST, Friend CM, Schoonen MAA, Holland HD (2004) Mineral-assisted pathways in prebiotic synthesis: photoelectrochemical reduction of carbon(+IV) by manganese sulfide. J Am Chem Soc 126(36):11247–11253
Zhang XV, Ellery SP, Friend CM, Holland HD, Michel FM, Schoonen MAA, Martin ST (2007) Photodriven reduction and oxidation reactions on colloidal semiconductor particles: implications for prebiotic synthesis. J Photochem Photobiol A Chem 185(2–3):301–311
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Mulkidjanian, A.Y. (2023). Abiotic Photosynthesis. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65093-6_4
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