Project description
Tracing life’s origins from rock to metabolism
How did life emerge from lifeless chemistry? Scientists have long approached this mystery from two directions. The first is building complexity from simple geochemical reactions (bottom-up). The second is breaking down modern biology to its simplest components (top-down). The ERC-funded CoBeEn project aims to bridge these approaches by studying one of Earth’s most ancient carbon-fixation pathways, the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. This reaction, which turns CO2 into organic compounds, occurs both in modern microbes and abiotically on minerals. CoBeEn will test whether early coenzymes (small, recyclable organic molecules) acted as a bridge between mineral and biological catalysis, revealing how the chemistry of early Earth evolved into the metabolism that powers life today.
Objective
There are two approaches to the emergence of life: bottom up and top down. This means on one hand, we can start with simple geochemical reactions and try to synthesize increasingly complex molecules and reaction networks from there. On the other hand, we can start with life as we know it and try to decomplicate the chemical reactions that run it to find a common denominator. Both approaches have yielded important insights, but they also have their limitations. So far, the two approaches are far away from ultimately converging. CoBeEN aims to reconcile geochemistry and biochemistry by focussing on the most ancient carbon fixation route: the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP). This autotrophic pathway uses the electrons of hydrogen to fix CO2, a reaction that also occurs abiotically – using minerals as catalysts instead of enzymes. The mere transition from minerals to enzymes seems far-fetched, given the leap in complexity required. However, organic cofactors or coenzymes, simpler organic molecules assisting enzymatic reactions by being truly recyclable reaction partners, are hypothesized to have preceded enzymes. They are pivotal in theoretical reconstructions of autocatalytic, non-enzymatic networks describing a minimal metabolism based on carbon fixation.
CoBeEn postulates that coenzymes played a central role in enabling the transition from mineral-based CO2 fixation to enzymatic carbon metabolism. CoBeEn will experimentally link key metabolic cofactors of the WLP to mineral-assisted catalysis. The goal is to understand the transition from environmental reactions to metabolic functions by elucidating how metabolic pathways and the molecules employed by them were selected by the environment. By mapping the understudied interactions between chemically active environments and metabolism, we will gain insights into their mechanistic interdependencies before they were separated by the origin of cellular organization.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geochemistry
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.