What is Special About Phosphate?

Christopher ButchResearch ScientistBMSIS, ELSI, and Emory University

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

EnergyActivation

• PhysicalEnergyActivation

• Chemical

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

• Nucleic Acid Backbones

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

• Nucleic Acid Backbones

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

• Nucleic Acid Backbones

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

• Nucleic Acid Backbones

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

• Nucleic Acid Backbones• Phospholipid Bilayers

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

• Nucleic Acid Backbones• Phospholipid Bilayers

The roles of phosphate in biology • Structural

• Nucleic Acid Backbones• Phospholipid Bilayers

The roles of phosphate in biology • Physical

• Compartmentalization

The roles of phosphate in biology • Physical

• Compartmentalization

The roles of phosphate in biology • Chemical

• Energy

“On any given day you turn over your body weight equivalent in

ATP, the principal energy currency of the cell.”

Törnroth-Horsefield, Susanna, and Richard Neutze."Opening and closing the metabolite gate." Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences (2008): pnas-0810654106.

The roles of phosphate in biology • Chemical

• Energy

The roles of phosphate in biology

• Chemical• Energy

• Chemical• Energy• Activation

Synthesis of β-5-phosphorybosylamine

The roles of phosphate in biology • Chemical

• Energy• Activation

• Physical• Compartmentalization• Signaling

• Structural• Nucleic Acid Backbones• Phospholipid Bilayers

Why wouldn’t life use phosphate?• Scarce

• Insoluble, unreactive• No polyphosphate minerals• One pyrophosphate mineral• Limited geochemical production of reactive forms

Keefe, Anthony D., and Stanley L. Miller. "Are polyphosphates or phosphate esters prebiotic reagents?." Journal of molecular evolution 41.6 (1995): 693-702.

Open Questions:• When did life begin to use

phosphate?

Open Questions:• When did life begin to use

phosphate? • If not at the very beginning, what

came before?

Open Questions:• When did life begin to use

phosphate?• If not at the very beginning, what

came before?• Where did early phosphate come

from?

Suggested ReadingLibreTexts: Organic Chemistry with a Biological Emphasis

(Soderberg) – Chapter 10: Phosphoryl transfer reactionshttps://chem.libretexts.org/Textbook_Maps/Organic_Chemistry/Book%3A_Organic_Chemistry_with_a_Biological_Emphasis_(Soderberg)/10%3A_Phosphoryl_transfer_reactions

Remnants of an Ancient Metabolism without Phosphatehttps://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)30133-2

Life - Special Issue "Phosphorus (P) and the Origins of Life“https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/origins_life

ReferencesWestheimer, Frank H. "Why nature chose phosphates." Science

235.4793 (1987): 1173-1178.Soderberg, Timothy. "Organic Chemistry with a Biological

Emphasis Volume I." (2016).Goldford, Joshua E., et al. "Remnants of an ancient metabolism

without phosphate." Cell 168.6 (2017): 1126-1134.Törnroth-Horsefield, Susanna, and Richard Neutze. "Opening

and closing the metabolite gate." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2008): pnas-0810654106.

Keefe, Anthony D., and Stanley L. Miller. "Are polyphosphates or phosphate esters prebiotic reagents?." Journal of molecular evolution 41.6 (1995): 693-702.