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Did silicon aid in the establishment of the first bacterium?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2004

M. Wainwright ,
K. Al-Wajeeh ,
N.C. Wickramasinghe  and
J.V. Narlikar
M. Wainwright
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
K. Al-Wajeeh
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
N.C. Wickramasinghe
Affiliation:
Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, Cardiff University, 2 North Road, Cardiff CF10 3DW, UK
J.V. Narlikar
Affiliation:
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Post Bag 4, Ganshkhind, Pune, 411 007, India
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Abstract

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Silicic acid increased numbers of both aerobic and facultatively anaerobic bacteria in ultrapure water incubated under strict oligotrophic conditions; soil extracts acted as the bacterial inoculum. The results are discussed in relation to the possibility that silicic acid, produced by the hydrolysis of silicates on the early Earth, could have stimulated the growth of the first bacterium, thereby allowing it to become established in the then prevailing conditions (presumed to be oligotrophic).

Keywords

bacterial evolutionorigin of lifepanspermiasilicon microbiology
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , July 2003 , pp. 227 - 229
Copyright
2003 Cambridge University Press