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Origins of metal ions in biology

Abstract

A FERREDOXIN may have been one of the earliest proteins formed. The evidence for this assumption was recently presented by Hall et al.1 based on the primary structures of several ferredoxins. Here, further evidence is reported for the early evolution of ferredoxins, and the origins of ferredoxins and other metalloproteins are discussed from an inorganic point of view based on thermodynamic data.

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ÖSTERBERG, R. Origins of metal ions in biology. Nature 249, 382–383 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/249382a0

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