How Life Started on Earth Flashcards
The theory that explains the existence of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells?
Endosymbiont Theory
Most accepted theory by scientists?
Endosymbiont theory
Early Earth is believed to have what type of weather?
Extreme heat and extreme cold
1st molecule formed through constant series of chemical reactions?
Micromolecules
2nd molecule formed through constant series of chemical reactions?
Macromolecules
Properties of RNA
A. Informational since it carries information/ analogous to genotype.
B. Functional, with its folded structure it was able to interact with other molecules. Analogous to phenotype
Head group
Hydrophilic
Tail
Hydrophobic
The enclosed environment allowed the molecules within the structure to interact to form the?
DNA
What do you call a simple prokaryotic cell?
Ancestral prokaryote
An ancestral prokaryote is currently referred to as?
LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor)
LUCA lives in what type of environment?
A highly intense environment with no oxygen (Anaerobic)
One of the best mechanisms of LUCA to survive?
Ability to utilize whatever nutrient available in the environment.
What are the metabolic by-products of ancestral prokaryotes (similar to photosynthesis)
Oxygen and water
LUCA in an oxygenated environment (Five fates)
- Death
- Migrated/Situated in strategic locations
- Developed respiratory capacity (Eubacteria)
- Predatory/parasitic for those with respiratory capacity
- Symbiotic relationship with host/prey
Ancestral prokaryotes with predatory or parasitic characteristics eventually developed a symbiotic relationship with their prey or host, giving rise to a new type of cell.
Endosymbiont Theory
Who proposed the Endosymbiont Theory?
Lynn Margulis
What is the endosymbiont theory is all about?
That the main organelles of the eukaryotic cell were actually primitive prokaryotic cells that have been engulfed by a different, bigger prokaryotic cell
What are believed to have been prokaryotic cells which have developed a symbiotic relationship with a host cell that engulfed them? What are the proofs?
Mitochondria and chloroplasts
a. Both are enclosed in a lipid bilayer
b. Both possess their own DNA
c. Both reproduce by binary fission
d. Both have their own energy source and metabolism
Is a primitive mechanism fro cell signalling
Quorum sensing
