Algumas controvérsias sobre a origem da vida

In the present paper some controversies on the origin of life are discussed. Did the first living beings on Earth have an autotrophic or heterotrophic origin? What did come first, genetic code or metabolism? Were cells invented early? What was the role of minerals regarding the origin of life

Adsorption of glyphosate in a forest soil: a study using Mössbauer and FT-IR spectroscopy

We studied the adsorption of glyphosate (GPS) onto soil mineral particles, using FT-IR and Mössbauer spectroscopy. From IR measurements for samples collected under native vegetation of a forest reserve, bands at 1632 and 1407 cm-1 could be attributed to the interaction between the carboxylic group of GPS and structural Al3+ and Fe3+ on the surface of mineral particles; bands at 1075 and 1000 cm-1 were observed only for cultivated soil. Mössbauer spectra for these soils were definitely fitted using a broad central doublet in addition to the magnetic component. This multiple quadrupolar component may be attributed to all non-magnetic Fe3+ contributions, including that of the GPS/Fe3+ complex

A Few Experimental Suggestions Using Minerals to Obtain Peptides with a High Concentration of L-Amino Acids and Protein Amino Acids

The peptides/proteins of all living beings on our planet are mostly made up of 19 L-amino acids and glycine, an achiral amino acid. Arising from endogenous and exogenous sources, the seas of the prebiotic Earth could have contained a huge diversity of biomolecules (including amino acids), and precursors of biomolecules. Thus, how were these amino acids selected from the huge number of available amino acids and other molecules? What were the peptides of prebiotic Earth made up of? How were these peptides synthesized? Minerals have been considered for this task, since they can preconcentrate amino acids from dilute solutions, catalyze their polymerization, and even make the chiral selection of them. However, until now, this problem has only been studied in compartmentalized experiments. There are separate experiments showing that minerals preconcentrate amino acids by adsorption or catalyze their polymerization, or separate L-amino acids from D-amino acids. Based on the [GADV]-protein world hypothesis, as well as the relative abundance of amino acids on prebiotic Earth obtained by Zaia, several experiments are suggested. The main goal of these experiments is to show that using minerals it is possible, at least, to obtain peptides whose composition includes a high quantity of L-amino acids and protein amino acids (PAAs). These experiments should be performed using hydrothermal environments and wet/dry cycles. In addition, for hydrothermal environment experiments, it is very important to use one of the suggested artificial seawaters, and for wet/dry environments, it is important to perform the experiments in distilled water and diluted salt solutions. Finally, from these experiments, we suggest that, without an RNA world or even a pre genetic world, a small peptide set could emerge that better resembles modern proteins

Determinação de proteínas totais via espectrofometria: vantagens e desvantagens dos métodos existentes Determination of total protein by spectrophotometry: advantages and disadvantages of proposed methods

<abstract language="eng">Spectrophotometric determination of total protein is used in several areas such as clinical analysis, food science and technology, biochemistry, protein chemistry, physiology. Five spectrophotometric methods are mostly used: biuret, Lowry, Bradford, Smith and UV absorption. In this review a general overview of these methods is presented (interferences, applications); other methodologies are also discussed

UV Radiation and the reaction between ammonium and thiocyanate under prebiotic chemistry conditions

The reaction between ammonium and thiocyanate under prebiotic chemistry conditions was studied using FT-IR spectroscopy. Ammonium thiocyanate (1.0×10-3 mol L-1) was dissolved in sodium chloride solution (28.57 g L-1) at two different pH values (5.30 and 7.20). FT-IR results showed that it was possible that some compound that resembles dithiooxamides was synthesized when samples of ammonium thiocyanate were exposed to UV radiation under a regular atmosphere, as UV radiation in the presence of oxygen leads to the formation of perchlorate ions (ClO4-) due to the presence of Cl- as well. After acid hydrolysis of the samples of ammonium thiocyanate irradiated under a nitrogen atmosphere, yellow and white compounds were obtained, which could not be identified. These results were different from those reported in the literature, where other authors found methionine. However, they used higher concentrations of ammonium thiocyanate and a different type of UV lamp. On the other hand, in the present study, a lower concentration of ammonium thiocyanate was used, which probably resembled more the concentration of ammonium thiocyanate of primitive earth