1. Evolution Alan Ward

2. Evolution

3. Formation of the Earth Geochemical dating places the Earth ’ s age at 4.6 billion years The oldest rocks: SW Greenland – Itsaq Gneiss Complex (3.86 billion years old) Volcanic Carbonate Sedimentary Western Australia – Warrawoona seriers; Towers formation; Pilbara supergroups South Africa – Swaziland supergroup Evolution

4. Hadean Archean Oldest rocks from Isua Supercrustal Group Oldest fossils Formation of the earth Stromatolitesand cyanobacterria first eukaryotes Proterozoic Explosion of phytoplanckton Decline in phytoplankton Cambrian explosion Plants invade the land Dinosaurs Evolution

5. Evolution Ways of studying the origin of life

6. Essential characteristics of Life Replication Catalysis Boundary layer RNA WorldEarly cellular lifeModern cellular life proteins take over as catalysts DNA takes over replication Evolution

7. Self-replicating, catalytic RNA molecules Ribozymes Modern examples Self-splicing mRNA RNAse P Ribosomes 50S ribosome RNA protein RNA World Replication and Catalysis

8. Lipoprotein vesicles The cell – a boundary layer Schrum et al., (2010) The origins of cellular life. Cold Spring Harbour Perspect Biol. Origins of Life Sunject Collection

9. Energy generation Essential characteristics of Life Proton Motive Force or Substrate level phosphorylation FeS H 2 S + CO 2 CH 3 SH FeS/NiS CH 3 SH + CO CH 3 COSCH 3 CH 3 COSCH 3 + Pi CH 3 CO-P + CH 3 SH

10. Warm little pool

13. RNA World The ribosome is a ribozyme

14. DNA evolution replication infidelities effects of external and internal environmental mutagens (UV, O 2, mutagens, …) DNA rearrangements acquisition of genetic information

15. Replication- Taq polymerase

16. Replication- Bacterial genome

17. Bacterial genomes are sampling rather than accumulating sequences, counterbalancing gene acquisition with gene loss Estimated rate of acquisition by lateral gene transfer 31 kb/Myr Point mutations introduce 22 kb of variant DNA per Myr Total acquired DNA since divergence of E. coli and S. enterica 100 Myr ago 3Mb DNA different by LTG between E. coli and S. enterica 803 Kb Lateral Gene Transfer Escherichia coli (compared to Salmonella enterica) Lawrence JG Ochman H (1997) Amelioration of Bacterial Genomes: Rates of Change and Exchange. J Mol Evol (1997) 44:383–397

18. Lateral Gene Transfer

19. MacFadden BJ (2005) Fossil Horses— Evidence for Evolution. Science 307, 1728 – 1730