title: Functions and possible provenance of primordial proteins.
abstract: Nanobacteria or living nanovesicles are of great interest to the scientific community because of their dual nature: on the one hand, they appear as primal biosystems originating life; on the other hand, they can cause severe diseases. Their survival as well as their pathogenic potential is apparently linked to a self-synthesized protein-based slime, rich in calcium and phosphate (when available). Here, we provide challenging evidence for the occurrence of nanobacteria in the stratosphere, reflecting a possibly primordial provenance of the slime. An analysis of the slime's biological functions may lead to novel strategies suitable to block adhesion modalities in modern bacterial populations.
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany. samoan@gmx.net
authors.forename: Andrei P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: Norimune
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: N Chandra
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Wickramasinghe
authors.forename: Jayant V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Narlikar
authors.forename: Shirwan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Mufti
mesh_terms: D001031:Apatites; D001272:Atmosphere; D018559:Exobiology; D019110:Meteoroids; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046588:Nanoarchaeota / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D049329:Nanostructures; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010316:Particle Size; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D001031:Apatites; D011506:Proteins