Hot Mineral Water as a Medium for Molecular Hydrogen Reactions in the Primordial Hydrosphere for the Origin of Life

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Studies have been conducted on the potential development of Hydrogenobacter thermophilus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an anaerobic environment, both in the presence and absence of molecular hydrogen (H2). H. thermophilus developed better at 70 °C and pH 7.0 in the presence of molecular hydrogen. It also multiplied in its absence, but to a lesser extent. Dissolved hydrogen in an amount of 1 ppm is biologically active for this thermophilic chemolithotrophic species. The tested strains of P. aeruginosa also showed growth under anaerobic conditions in the presence of H2 concentrations of 1 ppm and 2 ppm, which was ensured by adding Mg. The results indicate that not only the oldest microorganisms on our planet, archaebacteria, but also current species such as H. thermophilus and P. aeruginosa are capable of development under conditions characteristic of the ancient hydrosphere. DFT analyses showed that hydrogen water forms stable water clusters, whose hydrogen bond network retains and stabilizes reducing agents such as molecular hydrogen and magnesium (Mg0). This creates a microenvironment in which key redox processes associated with autotrophic growth and chemical evolution can occur. This is a realistic model of the Earth’s primordial hydrosphere’s conditions.