SStell Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I was wondering about the phosphates used as linkages for... well everything important. We call Earth life carbon based. Sure organic molecules use carbon. But they seem to be pretty useless without the phosphate links as far as the nitrogenous bases go. Can anyone shed some light on where life gets these phosphates, are they synthesized, are they ingested or both and any of the chemical pathways they follow? All of by web searches have come up lacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Plants absorb phosphates from the soil. things that eat plants get phosphates from plants. Things that eat (things that eat plants) get phosphates from (things that eat plants). And so on. In fact, most things that eat plants (and so on) get rather more phosphate than they need and the excess is excreted in the urine. The phosphate in dead things is returned to the soil by bacteria etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus_cycle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabcockHall Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) Somewhat of a tangent, but "Why Nature Chose Phosphate" an article by Frank Westheimer, an important bioorganic chemist, about 1987 is worth one's time. "Why nature chose phosphate to modify proteins" by Tony Hunter from 2013 is good, also. Edited October 15, 2015 by BabcockHall 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SStell Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Thanks John for your link. And thanks again to you Babcock. I just finished reading Hunter's paper and a review of Westheimer's. I think I know now more than I wanted too. But really- the phosphate group seems to be just as fundamental to our replicating molecules as anything else and it seems to always be glossed over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharonY Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I do not think it is glossed over. You will hear pretty much everywhere that it is one of the essential elements of life. You may have heard of CHONP referring to the major elements required for life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SStell Posted October 17, 2015 Author Share Posted October 17, 2015 Charon, thanks again Are there enzymes that attach the oxygens to the phosphorus or are all the phosphates ingested? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 The oxygn-phosphorus bond is so strong that it is relatively rare to see phosphorus bonded to anything else in nature. There are a few examples like this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fosfomycin where phosphorus is bonded directly to a carbon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SStell Posted October 17, 2015 Author Share Posted October 17, 2015 John, thank you for that highly interesting molecule. Are there a whole bunch of triangular "ringed" cyclo molecules out there or are they somewhat rare? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Triangular rings are a bit uncommon in chemistry, but sometimes very useful https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_strain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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