Abstract

Submarine hydrothermal vents are geochemically reactive habitats that harbour rich microbial communities. There are striking parallels between the chemistry of the H₂–CO₂ redox couple that is present in hydrothermal systems and the core energy metabolic reactions of some modern prokaryotic autotrophs. The biochemistry of these autotrophs might, in turn, harbour clues about the kinds of reactions that initiated the chemistry of life. Hydrothermal vents thus unite microbiology and geology to breathe new life into research into one of biology's most important questions — what is the origin of life?

Author affiliations

1. Institut für Botanik III, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
2. School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA.

Correspondence to: William Martin¹ Email: w.martin@uni-duesseldorf.de

Published online 29 September 2008

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