Oxygen and the Evolution of Life

by Decker, Heinz; Van Holde, Kensal E.

• ISBN13: 9783642131783
• ISBN10: 3642131786
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-30
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

This book describes the interlaced histories of life and oxygen. It opens with the generation of oxygen in ancient stars and its distribution to newly formed planets like the Earth. Free O2 was not available on the early Earth, so the first life forms had to be anaerobic. Life introduced free O2 into the environment through the evolution of photosynthesis, which must have been a disaster for many anaerobes. Others found ways to deal with the toxic reactive oxygen species and even developed a much more efficient oxygen-based metabolism.The authors vividly describe how the introduction of O2 allowed the burst of evolution that created today's biota. They also discuss the interplay of O2 and CO2, with consequences such as worldwide glaciations and global warming. On the physiological level, they present an overview of oxidative metabolism and O2 transport, and the importance of O2 in human life and medicine, emphasizing that while oxygen is essential, it is also related to aging and many disease states.

Table of Contents

Oxygen, Its Nature and Chemistry: What Is so Special About This Element?	p. 1
A Brief Introduction to Oxygen	p. 1
Atomic Structure of Oxygen: Chemical Bonding Potential	p. 2
The Dioxygen Molecule	p. 5
Reactive Oxygen Species	p. 8
Superoxide 1O2 -*	p. 8
Hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2)	p. 9
Peroxyl radical (ROO*)	p. 9
Ozone	p. 10
Water	p. 12
Water Vapor in the Atmosphere	p. 15
Carbon Dioxide	p. 15
Solubility of Gases in Water	p. 16
Hydrolysis and Dehydration: Central Water Reactions in Biology	p. 16
Redox Reactions	p. 17
References	p. 18
A Brief History of Oxygen	p. 21
Cosmic History of the Elements	p. 21
The Sun and Solar System	p. 24
Formation of Earth	p. 25
The Primordial Environment	p. 27
Atmosphere of the Early Earth	p. 27
Water on the Earth' Surface: The Origin of Oceans	p. 29
The First Greenhouse Effect	p. 29
Life: Its Origins and Earliest Development	p. 30
A Billion Years of Life Without Dioxygen: Anaerobic Metabolism	p. 32
Some Principles of Metabolism	p. 32
The Invention of Photosynthesis	p. 35
How Oxygenic Photosynthesis Remodeled the Earth	p. 38
The First Rise of Dioxygen	p. 38
Effects on Life: An Ecological Catastrophe?	p. 39
Effects on the Earth	p. 40
References	p. 41
Coping with Oxygen	p. 43
The Impact of Oxygenation on an Anaerobic World	p. 43
Production of Reactive Oxygen Species	p. 44
Coping with Reactive Oxygen Species	p. 47
Scavenger Molecules	p. 47
Enzymes for Detoxification of ROS	p. 49
Antioxidant Enzyme Systems	p. 51
How to Avoid Reactive Oxygen Species?	p. 52
Evolving Defense Strategies	p. 53
Aggregation for Defense	p. 53
Melanin	p. 54
Oxygen Transport Proteins Prevent Creation of Oxygen Radicals	p. 55
Reactive Oxygen Species as Cellular Signals	p. 56
Dioxygen as a Signal: Oxygen Sensor	p. 56
Summary: Reactive Oxygen Species and Life	p. 57
References	p. 58
Aerobic Metabolism: Benefits from an Oxygenated World	p. 61
The Advantage to Being Aerobic	p. 61
Evolution of an Aerobic Metabolism	p. 62
Special Mechanisms Needed for Aerobic Metabolism	p. 62
When and How Did Aerobes Arise?	p. 63
Eukaryotes: The Next Step in Evolution	p. 67
Distinction Between Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes	p. 67
The Symbiotic Hypothesis	p. 67
The Last Great Leap: Multicellular Organisms, "Metazoans"	p. 69
When, Why, and How?	p. 69
Collagen and Cholesterin	p. 70
Half a Billion Years of Stasis?	p. 71
Emergence and Extinction of the Ediacaran Fauna	p. 72
The Bilateral Body Plan	p. 73
The "Cambrian Explosion": Fact or Artifact?	p. 74
References	p. 76
Facilitated Oxygen Transport	p. 79
How to Deliver Dioxygen to Animal Tissues?	p. 79
Modes of Delivery	p. 80
Diffusion from the Surface	p. 80
Transport via Blood as a Dissolved Gas	p. 81
Oxygen Transport Proteins: What They Must Do?	p. 82
Modes of Dioxygen Binding to Oxygen Transport Proteins	p. 84
Cooperative and Noncooperative Binding	p. 84
How Does Cooperativity Work?: Models for Allostery	p. 86
Self-Assembly and Nesting	p. 88
Why Complex Multisubunit Oxygen Transport Proteins?	p. 89
Modulation of Dioxygen Delivery by Oxygen Transport Proteins: Heteroallostery	p. 89
Modulation by the Products of Anaerobic Metabolism: the Bohr Effect	p. 90
The Haldane Effect	p. 90
The Root Effect	p. 91
Temperature Dependence	p. 92
Evolutionary Aspects of Regulation	p. 93
Diversity of Oxygen Transport Proteins	p. 93
Hemoglobins	p. 94
Hemerythrins	p. 96
Hemocyanins	p. 96
Evolution of Oxygen Transport Proteins	p. 99
Was Snowball Earth a Possible Trigger for OPT Evolution?	p. 101
From What Proteins Did Oxygen Transport Proteins Evolve?	p. 102
Oxygen Transport Proteins and "Intelligent Design"	p. 103
References	p. 103
Climate Over the Ages; Is the Environment Stable?	p. 107
Climate and Glaciations in Earth's History	p. 108
The First Massive Glaciations; the Huronion Event: A Role for Methane?	p. 108
Later Proterozoic Glaciations	p. 110
Phanerozoic Climate and Glaciations	p. 111
How Did Life Survive Glaciations?	p. 116
Milestones of Life in the Phanerozoic	p. 118
Inorganic Cycling of Carbon Dioxide	p. 121
Is Our Environment Stable?	p. 122
Recent Global Warming	p. 124
References	p. 124
Global Warming: Human Intervention in World Climate	p. 127
Recent Climate Changes	p. 127
Physical Consequences of Global Warming	p. 129
Shrinking Ice and Glaciers	p. 129
Sea Level Changes	p. 130
Changes in Ocean Currents	p. 131
Local Climate and Weather	p. 132
The Danger of Methane Releases	p. 133
Greenhouse to Icehouse and Vice Versa?	p. 133
Human Consequences of Global Warming	p. 134
Direct Consequences of CO2 and Temperature Increase	p. 134
Sea Level Rise	p. 135
Extreme Weather	p. 136
Effects on Agriculture	p. 137
Control of Global Warming	p. 138
Positive and Negative Natural Feedback Mechanism	p. 138
Human Effects to Control Global Warming	p. 139
The Long View	p. 139
References	p. 140
Oxygen in Medicine	p. 143
Hypoxia	p. 143
High-Altitude Hypoxia	p. 144
Hypoxia Arising from Medical Conditions	p. 145
Oxidative Stress	p. 145
Nature of Oxidative Stress	p. 145
Special Examples of Medical Consequences of Oxidative Stress	p. 146
Treatment of Oxidative Stress	p. 149
Beneficial Roles of ROS	p. 150
SCN and Primary Immune Response	p. 150
Nitric Oxide	p. 151
References	p. 153
Oxygen and the Exploration of the Universe	p. 157
What Is Essential for the Development of Life as We Know It?	p. 157
What Makes O2 Necessary for Complex Life on Habitable Planets?	p. 158
Seeking Evidence for Extraterrestrial Life	p. 158
Life in the Solar System?	p. 161
Terrestrial Planets	p. 161
Icy Moons	p. 163
Oxygen Supply Problems in Extraterrestrial Voyages	p. 164
Problems Facing Extended Extraterrestrial Settlement or Colonizaton	p. 166
Adjusting the Planetary Environment: Terraforming	p. 166
Adjusting the Organism: Bioforming	p. 167
References	p. 168
Index	p. 169
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