The Geochemical Origin of Microbes

William F. Martin received his undergraduate (diplom) degree in biology 1985 from the Technische Universität Hannover and his Ph.D. in Genetics 1988 from the Max-Planck-Institute for Breeding Research in Cologne on molecular evolution. He completed postdoctoral work at the Technische Universität Braunschweig with a habilitation on the evolution of primary metabolism. Since 1999 he has held a chair in Biology at the University Düsseldorf as head of the Institute of Molecular Evolution. Author of more than 350 scientific publications that have been cited over 45,000 times, he has served as referee for 135 different journals, 50 different funding agencies, as editor for 16 different journals and as panelist on various advisory boards. He is an Elected Fellow of the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften, the American Academy for Microbiology, the European Molecular Biology Organisation, and Corresponding Foreign Member of the Accademia delle Scienza di Bologna. His distinctions for work on molecular evolution include the Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in 1990, a Julius von Haast Fellowship from the New Zealand Ministry for Science in 2006, the Klüh Foundation Award for Science and Research in 2018, and the Motoo Kimura Award of the Motoo Kimura Trust Foundation in 2023. Since 2009 his work has been funded by three Advanced Grants from the European Research Council. His main scientific interests are chemical and biochemical evolution, endosymbiosis, microbial evolution, and early evolution including the origin of microbial cells.

This is a textbook covering the transition from energy releasing reactions on the early Earth to energy releasing reactions that fueled growth in the first microbial cells. It is for teachers and college students with an interest in microbiology, geosciences, biochemistry, evolution, or all of the above.

Chapter 1 The Early Earth Setting and Chemical Fundamentals