Some aspects of the origin and early evolution of bioenergetic processes

Abstract

Model experiments demonstrating some possibilities of the primitive bioenergetics were performed. Comparing the catalytic properties of heme and hemoproteinoid in electron transfer reactions, it was shown that hemin acts as an active dark catalyst, whereas hemoproteinoid is a photosensitizer of these processes. The heme-containing enzyme, peroxidase [or even the hemoproteinoid] is also able to provide the phosphorylation of different substrates. It is proposed, that the phosphorylation is initiated by a hydroxyl radical occuring in the peroxidase reaction. We believe that those reactions could play a role in prebiotic energetics by coupling the electron transfer with the phosphorylation of suitable substrates.