Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Life Origination Hydrate Theory (LOH-Theory) and the Explanation of the Biological Diversification

  • Review
  • Published:
Journal of Molecular Evolution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Life Origination Hydrate Theory (LOH-Theory) considers the life origination process as a sequence of thermodynamically caused regular and inevitable chemical transformations regulated by universal physical and chemical laws. The LOH-Theory bears on a number of experimental, thermodynamic, observation, and simulation researches. N-bases, riboses, nucleosides, and nucleotides and DNAs and RNAs are formed repeatedly within structural cavities of localizations of underground and underseabed honeycomb CH4-hydrate deposits from CH4 and nitrate and phosphate ions that diffused into the hydrate structures; proto-cells and their agglomerates originated from these DNAs and from the same minerals in the semi-liquid soup after liquation of the hydrate structures. Each localization gave rise to a multitude of different DNAs and living organisms. The species diversity is caused by the spatial and temporal repeatability of the processes of living matter origination under similar but not identical conditions, multiplicity of the DNA forms in each living matter origination event, variations in the parameters of the native medium, intraspecific variations, and interspecific variations. The contribution of the last to the species diversity is, likely, significant for prokaryotes and those eukaryotes that are only at low steps of their biological organization; however, in the light of the LOH-Theory, of available long-term paleontological investigations, and of studies of reproduction of proliferous organisms, we conclude that, in toto, the contribution of interspecific variations to the species diversity was earlier overestimated by some researchers. The reason of this overestimation is that origination of scores of «spores» of different organisms in any one event and multiple reproductions of such events in time and Earth’s space were not taken into consideration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abel DL, Trevors JT (2006) Self-organization vs. self-ordering events in life-origin models. Phys Life Rev 3:211–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkins WRG (1926) The phosphate content of seawater in relation to the growth of the algae phytoplankton. Part III. J Mar Biol Assoc 14:447–467

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Atwood JL et al (eds) (1996) Comprehensive supramolecular chemistry. Pergamon Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Barenbaum AA (2007) On possible relationship between gas-hydrates and submarine groundwater. Water Resour 34:587–592

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman J (2007) Creative evolution: an anti-Darwin theory won a Nobel. Acts & Facts 36(7)

  • Bonner WA (2007) Origins of chiral homogeneity in Nature. In: Eliel EL, Wilen SH (eds) Topics in stereochemistry, vol 18. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 1–96

  • Byk SSh, Fomina VI (1970) Gas hydrates. In: Progress in science and technology. Ser Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, 1968, VINITI, Moscow, Russia

  • Carey FA, Sundberg RJ (2004) Organische chemie. Wiley, Weinheim

  • Carroll JJ (2003) Natural gas hydrates: a guide for engineers Amsterdam. Gulf Professional Publ, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll SB (2007) The making of the fittest: DNA and the ultimate forensic record of evolution. WW Norton & Co, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Cech TR, Bass BL (1986) Biological catalysis by RNA. Ann Rev Biochem 55:599–629

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chaplin M (2013) Water Structure and Science; http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/clathrat2.html

  • Clarke EC, Ford RW, Glew DN (1964) Propylene gas hydrate stability. Can J Chem 42:2027–2029

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dahm R (2008) Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miescher and the early years of nucleic acid research. Hum Genet 122(6):565–581

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin CR (2010) The variation of animals and plants under domestication. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson DW, Garg SK, Gough SR et al (1986) Laboratory analysis of a naturally occurring gas hydrate from sediment of the Gulf of Mexico. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 50:619–623

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Day JC, Robb ID (1981) Thermodynamic parameters of polyacrylamides in water. Polymer 22:1530–1533

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Graaf RM, Visscher J, Schwartz AW (1995) A plausibly prebiotic synthesis of phosphonic acids. Nature 378(6556):474–477

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dryzun C, Avnir D (2012) On the abundance of chiral crystals. Chem Commun 48:5874–5876

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dryzun C, Mastai Y, Shvalb A, Avnir D (2009) Chiral silicate zeolites. J Mater Chem 19:2062–2069

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dzyabchenko AV, Kadyshevich EA (2013) Life Origination Hydrate Hypothesis (LOH-Hypothesis): the theory and procedure of simulation of basic DNA units in hydrate structure. EPSC Abstracts 8:EPSC2013–284

  • Ericksen GE (1983) The Chilean nitrate deposits. Am Sci 71:366–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Frye K (ed) (1982) The encyclopedia of mineralogy. Stoutsburg, Pen, USA

  • Ginsburg GD, Soloviev VA (1998) Submarine gas hydrates. Okeanologia, St. Petersburg

  • Gull M, Zhou M, Fernandez FM, Pasek MA (2014) Prebiotic phosphate ester syntheses in a deep eutectic solvent. J Mol Evol 78:109–117

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kadyshevich EA (2009) PFO–CFO hypothesis of planet formation. M&PS 44:A105

    Google Scholar 

  • Kadyshevich EA, Ostrovskii VE (2007) Hypothetical physicochemical mechanisms of some intracellular processes: the hydrate hypothesis of mitosis and DNA replication. Thermochim Acta 458:148–161

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kadyshevich EA, Ostrovskii VE (2009) Hydrate hypothesis of living matter origination (LOH-hypothesis): thermodynamic grounds of formation of living matter simplest elements from hydrocarbons and niter. J Therm Anal Calorim 95:571–578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kadyshevich EA, Ostrovskii VE (2010) Hydrate hypothesis of living matter origination: logical and thermodynamic grounds. In: Dmitrievskiy AN, Valyaev BN (eds) Degassing of the Earth: geotectonics, geodynamics, geofluids; oils and gas; hydrocarbons and life. GEOS, Moscow, pp 195–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Kadyshevich EA, Ostrovskii VE (2011) Development of the PFO–CFO hypothesis of Solar System formation: why do the celestial objects have different isotopic ratios for some chemical elements? In: Bonanno A, de Gouveia dal Pino E, Kosovichev A (eds) Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union (Advances in Plasma Astrophysics). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 95–101. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8295090

  • Kadyshevich EA, Ostrovskii VE (2012) Life Origination Hydrate hypothesis (LOH-hypothesis): CH4-hydrate matrix as a necessary condition for life origin, EPSC Abstracts 7:EPSC2012-113

  • Kadyshevich EA, Ostrovskii VE (2013) PFO–CFO Hypothesis of Solar System Formation: the presolar star as the only source of chemical elements for the Solar System. EPSC Abstracts 8:EPSC2013-38

  • Kadyshevich EA, Dzyabchenko AV, Ostrovskii VE (2013) Life Origination Hydrate hypothesis (LOH-hypothesis): computer simulation of rearrangement of different DNA components within CH4-hydrate structure II. Proceedings of the European Planetary Science Congress 2013, EPSC2013-285, Copernicus Gesellschaft, Gottingen, Germany; http://presentations.copernicus.org/EPSC2013-285_presentation.pdf

  • Kadyshevich EA, Dzyabchenko AV, Ostrovskii VE (2014) Life Origination Hydrate Theory (LOH-Theory) and Mitosis and Replication Hydrate Theory (MRH-Theory): three-dimensional PC validation. EPSC Abstracts 9:EPSC2014-53-2

  • Kang F-A, Yin C-L (1997) Studies on the chemistry of the chiral nitronic acid and nitronic esters. Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 8:3585–3589

  • Kisel’ VA, Burkov VI (1980) Gyrotropy of crystals. Nauka, Moscow

    Google Scholar 

  • Konovalov MI (1893) Nitrating action of nitric acid on hydrocarbons of saturated character. J Russ Physicochem Soc 25:446–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Krupcik J, Oswald P, Májek P, Sandra P, Armstrong W (2003) Determination of the interconversion energy barrier of enantiomers by separation methods. J Chromatogr 1000:779–800

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li T, Nicolaou KC (1994) Chemical self-replication of palindromic duplex DNA. Nature 369:218–221

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lide DR (1996) Handbook of chemistry and physics, 76th edn. CRC Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald IR, Guinasso NL, Brooks JM, et al (1994) Seafloor gas-hydrates: video documenting oceanographic influences on their formation and dissociation. In: Near Surface Expression of Hydrocarbon Migration. AAPG Hedberg Research Conference Abstracts, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

  • Milkov AV (2004) Global estimates of hydrate-bound gas in marine sediments: how much is really out there? Earth Sci Rev 66:183–197

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nekrasov BV (1965) Foundations of general chemistry, vol 1. Khimiya, Moscow, pp 432–440

  • Oborin AA, Khmurchik VT (2008) Chemosynthesis at deep fluids as an additional source of organic matter in the lithosphere. In: Dmitrievskiy AN, Valyaev BN (eds) Degassing of the Earth; geodynamics, geofluids, oil, gas, their parageneses. GEOS, Moscow, pp 366–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Orgel LE (1992) Molecular replication. Nature 358:203–209

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Orgel LE (2000) Self-organizing biochemical cycles. Proc Nat Acad Sci 97:12503–12507

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE (2002) Differential microcalorimeter for isothermal measurements of heat effects in two-phase systems and examples of its application. Rev Sci Instrum 73:1304–1312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE (2010) Hypothesis of the natural gas abiotic origin in the context of living matter origination. In: Vladimirov AI, Lapidus AL (eds) Gas chemistry at the present stage of development. Gubkin RSU NG, Moscow, pp 35–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2000) Use of data on the polyacrylamide–water system in analyzing the equilibrium DNA–water structure. Russ J Phys Chem 74:1114–1124

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2002a) Hydrate model of the equilibrium DNA–H2O system. Int J Nanosci 1:101–121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2002b) The DNA–water system: review and a new concept. In: 12th International Symposium on Supramolecular Chemistry, ISSC-XII, Eilat, Israel, Extended Abstracts, P-48

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2006) Thermodynamics of formation of nitrogen bases and d-ribose from mineral substances in light of the problem of origination of simplest elements of living matter. Thermochim Acta 441:69–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2007) Generalized hypothesis of the origin of the living-matter simplest elements, transformation of the Archean atmosphere, and the formation of methane-hydrate deposits. Phys Uspekhi (Adv Phys Sci) 50:175–196

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2009) Life origination hydrate hypothesis (LOH-hypothesis). Orig Life Evol Biosph 39:219–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2011) Mitosis and DNA replication and life origination hydrate hypotheses: common physical and chemical grounds. In: Seligmann H (ed) DNA replication—current advances. InTech, Rijeka, pp 75–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2012a) Life Origination Hydrate Hypothesis (LOH-Hypothesis). Life 2:135–164. http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/2/1/135

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2012b) Life Origination Hydrate Hypothesis (LOH-Hypothesis): original approach to solution of the problem. Global J Sci Front Res (A) 12(6):1–36 https://globaljournals.org/GJSFR_Volume12/1-Life-Origination-Hydrate-Hypothesis.pdf

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA (2013) PFO–CFO Hypothesis of Solar System formation: the notion of the Sun-like stars and their transformations. EPSC Abstracts 8:EPSC2013-145

  • Ostrovskii VE, Tsurkova BV (1997) Differential heat effects and mechanisms of interaction of polyacrylamide with water. Russ J Phys Chem 71:967–973

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Tsurkova BV (1998a) The system polyacrylamide–water. Differential heat effects, rates and molecular mechanisms of wetting and drying. J Therm Anal 51:369–381

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Tsurkova BV (1998b) The polyacrylamide–water system: application of differential calorimetry to study the mechanisms of dissolution. Thermochim Acta 316:111–122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Tsurkova BV, Kadyshevich EA, Gostev BV (2000) Differential heat effects, kinetics, and mechanisms for the drying and water vapor wetting of the acrylamide–water system. Russ J Phys Chem 74:191–201

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Tsurkova BV, Kadyshevich EA, Gostev BV (2001) Comparison study of the acrylamide–water and polyacrylamide–water systems: differential heat effects, kinetics, and mechanisms of drying and vapor-phase wetting. J Phys Chem B 105:12680–12687

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA, Dzyabchenko AV (2013) Life Origination Hydrate Hypothesis (LOH-Hypothesis): underground laboratories of nature as a place for synthesis of the first living organisms. In: Modern problems of theoretical, experimental and applied mineralogy, Geoprint, Syktyvkar, pp 472–475

  • Ostrovskii VE, Kadyshevich EA, Dzyabchenko AV (2014) Life origination hydrate theory (LOH-Theory): the DNA monochirality nature. EPSC Abstracts 9:EPSC2014-833

  • Ould-Moulaye CB, Dussap CG, Gros JB (2001) A consistent set of formation properties of nucleic acid compounds. Purines and pyrimidines in the solid state and in aqueous solution. Thermochim Acta 375:93–107

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ould-Moulaye CB, Dussap CG, Gros JB (2002) A consistent set of formation properties of nucleic acid compounds. Nucleosides, nucleotides and nucleotide-phosphates in aqueous solution. J Therm Anal 387:1–15

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pinder KL (1964) Time dependent rheology of the tetrahydrofuran-hydrogen sulphide gas hydrate slurry. Can J Chem Eng 42:132–138

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pinder KL (1965) A kinetic study of the formation of the tetrahydrofuran gas hydrate. Can J Chem Eng 43:271–274

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Platteeuw JC, Van-der-Waals JH (1959) Thermodynamic properties of gas hydrates II: phase equilibria in the system H2S-C3H8-H2O at −3 °C. Rec Trav Chim 78:126–133

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schippers A, Neretin LN, Kallmeyer J et al (2005) Prokaryotic cells of the deep subseafloor biosphere identified as living bacteria. Nature 433:861–864

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz JH (1999) Sudden origins. Wiley, New York, p 89

    Google Scholar 

  • Silberberg A, Eliassaf J, Katchalsky A (1957) Temperature-dependence of light scattering and intrinsic viscosity of hydrogen bonding polymers. J Polymer Sci 23:259–284

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stackelberg M, Meuthen B (1958) Solid gas-hydrate VII. Water-soluble ether. Z Electrochem 62:130–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Stackelberg M, Muller H (1954) Solid gas-hydrate II. Structure and stereochemistry. Z Electrochem 58:25–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundaralingam M, Jensen LH (1965) Stereochemistry of nucleic acid constituents. I. Refinement of the structure of cytidylic acid b. J Mol Biol 13:914–929

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takusagawa F, Dabrow M, Neidle S, Berman HM (1982) The structure of a pseudo intercalated complex between actinomycin and the DNA binding sequence d(GpC). Nature (L) 296:466–469

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Treloor PJ, Colley H (1996) Variations in F and Cl contents in Apatites from magnetite-apatite ores in Northern Chile and their ore genetic implications. Mineral Mag 60:285–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevors JT, Abel DL (2004) Chance and necessity do not explain the origin of life. Cell Biol Int 28:729–739

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turekian KK (1968) Oceans. Prince-Hall, Englewood

    Google Scholar 

  • Van-der-Waals JH, Platteeuw JC (1959) Clathrate solutions. Adv Chem Phys 2:1–57

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • White A, Handler P, Smith EL, Hill RL, Lehman IR (1978) Principles of biochemistry, 6th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York

  • Yčas M (1969) The biological code. North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsderdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Zak C (2014) http://www.corzakinteractive.com/earth-life-history/32_proterozoic.htm; source: University of California Museum of Paleontology - Tour of Geologic Time · Wikipedia - Geologic Time Scale

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our Reviewer for calling our attention to insufficient explanation of the phenomenon of DNA monochirality in the initial manuscript and thus stimulating us to more comprehensive consideration of this topical problem and to Niles Lehman, Editor in Chief, for repeated reading of the manuscript and useful advices. The work is partially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 12-05-01082.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, Vorontsovo Pole str. 10, Moscow, 105064, Russia

    Victor E. Ostrovskii

  2. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, Pyzhevsky side-str. 3, Moscow, 119017, Russia

    Elena A. Kadyshevich

Authors
  1. Victor E. Ostrovskii
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elena A. Kadyshevich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor E. Ostrovskii.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ostrovskii, V.E., Kadyshevich, E.A. Life Origination Hydrate Theory (LOH-Theory) and the Explanation of the Biological Diversification. J Mol Evol 79, 155–178 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-014-9641-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-014-9641-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation