Hypothesized origin of microbial life in a prebiotic gel and the transition to a living biofilm and microbial mats

This article hypothesizes that the origin of the first microbial cell(s) occurred as a series of increasing levels of organization within a prebiotic gel attached to a mineral surface, which made the transition to a biofilm composed of the first cell(s) capable of growth and division. A gel microenvironment attached to a surface for the origin of life, and subsequent living cells offers numerous advantages. These include acting as a water and nutrient trap on a surface, physical protection as well as protection from UV radiation. The prebiotic gel and the living biofilm contained the necessary water, does not impede diffusion of molecules including gases, provides a structured gel microscopic location for biochemical interactions and polymerisation reactions, where the necessary molecules for life need to be present and not limiting. The composition of the first gel environment may have been an oily-water mixture (or the interface between an oily-water mixture) of microscopic dimensions, but large enough for the organization of the first cell(s). The living biofilm then made the evolutionary transition to a microbial mat. (C) 2011 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.