Can Adenosine Triarsenate Role as an Energy Carrier?

摘要

Recently, Wolfe-Simon et al. reported the existence of a bacterium species, GFAJ-1, which can grow using arsenic (As) instead of phosphorus (P). If this is true, despite many objections that have risen, it will revolutionize our knowledge of biochemistry and may even open a new door to the search for the existence of extraterrestrial life. However, before getting thrilled by this new discovery, we will have to investigate various aspects of many essential biomolecules when their P contents are replaced with As. In the case of DNA, which is definitely one of the core molecules in life, Denning et al and Mladek et al. investigated the effect of the As-substitution and concluded that it induces no critical effect on the DNA backbone structure, although hydrolysis of this backbone will likely be quite rapid.