Chris
to be honest, i am not disposed right now to dig deeper into the subject of experiments made by Minnich, and if they are compelling or not. When oportune, i will do that .
What i know imho , is following: F-type ATPase had to emerge PRIOR life began.
The irreducibly complex ATP Synthase nanomachine, amazing evidence of design
Structural Biochemistry/The Evolution of Membranes
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Structural_Biochemistry/The_Evolution_of_Membranes
F- and A/V- type ATPases are membrane-embedded proteins and were feasibly present in the LUCA (last universal common ancestor) due to their omnipresence in modern cellular life.
If ATP synthase was present at luca, it means it is strong evidence that it was present at the progenote, and was therefore not possible to emerge through evolution, since evolution depends on DNA replication.
Furthermore, at least five core units are irreducible.
At least five of the below mentioned parts are ESSENTIAL and IRREDUCIBLE. Take away one , and ATP synthase ceases to function. Neither could any of the sub parts simply be co-opted from anywhere else. That would be the same as to say, in order to make a motor function, and a cylinder is missing, go search and find any cylinder nearby , co-opt it, and solved is the problem. The thing is that cylinders come in all size, specification, materials etc. And there is no goal oriented search of parts that fit through evolution Evolution has no forsight. Furthermore, there must be the information how and when and where to mount the parts, at the exact place, in the right sequence. Thats a far fetch for a mindless tinkerer to be able to achieve.
1.The nucleotide binding stator subunits (“cylinders”) : The electrostatic interaction of these rotor and stator charges is essential for torque generation
2.The central stalk (“crankshaft”) : The torsional elasticity of the central stalk and the bending and stretching elasticity of the peripheral stalk create an elastic coupling between Fo and F1. Is is essential.
3, The A/V rotor subunit (“adapter”) ; It is not used in all ATP synthase motors, and can therefore be reduced.
4. The Rotor ring (“turbine”) ; A ring of 8–15 identical c-subunits is essential for ion-translocation by the rotary electromotor of the ubiquitous FOF1-
ATPase.
5.The Jon channel forming subunit ; Subunit a harbors the ion channel that provides access to the binding site on the c11 ring in the middle of the membrane from the periplasmic surface . The channel is essential for the operation of the enzyme, because mutants in which the channel is blocked are completely inactive in both the ATP synthesis and/or coupled ATP hydrolysis mode
6. The peripheral stalk (“pushrod”) ; The peripheral stalk of F-ATPases is an essential component of these enzymes. It extends from the membrane distal point of the F1 catalytic domain along the surface of the F1 domain with subunit a in the membrane domain.
7 - 11 do not exist in all atp synthase motors, and can therefore be reduced.
- Electrostatic interactions between rotor and stator in the bacterial flagellar motor - PMC
- Flexibility within the Rotor and Stators of the Vacuolar H+-ATPase - PMC
- Structure and Flexibility of the C-Ring in the Electromotor of Rotary FoF1-ATPase of Pea Chloroplasts
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1432-1033.2002.03264.x/pdf
- The peripheral stalk of the mitochondrial ATP synthase - PubMed
There are at least 5 subunit parts essential to mantain the basice function of the ATP synthase motor.
If the substrates like crude oil required to make gasoline are not provided at the correct refinery place at the Oil industrial plant, the refinery process cannot happen. Same happens inside the cell. In order for mitochondria to function, shuttling of ADP, ATP, phosphates and other substrates is essential. That process does not catch mutch attention, but is actually life essential for eukaryotic cells to function. We need the right charge of ADP and ATP, the electrochemical gradient inside the inner membrane, the ADP/ATP carrier proteins that drive the substrates around, and carrier proteins that shuttle the phosphate that is required along with ADP for ATP synthesis to the right place at atp synthase motors, ready to be used , to be added to ADP to make ATP. That seems a ingeniously precise orchestrated process requiring several indispensable parts. ATP synthase is a prime example of intelligent design, and should be able to convince even the most skeptic that intelligent design is the best explanation for its origin .