ArticleJournal of molecular evolution2024
Volatile Organic Compound Metabolism on Early Earth.
Article in Journal of molecular evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Protein Architecture Comparisons and the Reconstruction of the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA).Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Mycorrhizal fungi volatiles: determining the fate of plants against stress?Frontiers in plant science · 2026Review
- A new LUCApedia database for data-driven research on early evolutionary history.Bioinformatics advances · 2026Article
- Before LUCA: unearthing the chemical roots of metabolism.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Extreme smells-microbial production of volatile organic compounds at the limits of life.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Diatom volatile organic compound production is driven by diel metabolism and the cell cycle.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Introduction to the Special Issue on Early Evolution and the Last Common Ancestor.Journal of molecular evolution · 2024Article
- A New View of the Last Universal Common Ancestor.Journal of molecular evolution · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constitute a significant portion of gas-phase metabolites in modern ecosystems and have unique roles in moderating atmospheric oxidative capacity, solar radiation balance, and aerosol formation. It has been theorized that VOCs may account for observed geological and evolutionary phenomena during the Archaean, but the direct contribution of biology to early non-methane VOC cycling remains unexplored. Here, we provide an assessment of all potential VOCs metabolized by the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). We identify enzyme functions linked to LUCA orthologous protein groups across eight literature sources and estimate the volatility of all associated substrates to identify ancient volatile metabolites. We hone in on volatile metabolites with confirmed modern emissions that exist in conserved metabolic pathways and produce a curated list of the most likely LUCA VOCs. We introduce volatile organic metabolites associated with early life and discuss their potential influence on early carbon cycling and atmospheric chemistry.
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Registered trials
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