title: From Light to Life.
abstract: The biogeochemical cycles of H, C, N, O and S are coupled via biologically catalyzed electron transfer (redox) reactions far from thermodynamic equilibrium. In this paper I examine the evolution of the structural motifs responsible for redox reactions (the biological "transistors") across the tree of life, and the photogeochemical reactions on minerals that ultimately came to be the driving force for these biological reactions.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, falko@marine.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Falkowski
mesh_terms: D008903:Minerals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals