THE CO-EVOLUTION OF COPPER MINERALS AND COPPER PROTEINS THROUGH GEOLOGIC TIME

Elements have combined and been re-engineered by Earth’s chemistry into increasingly complex structures throughout the 4.6 billion year formation of our solar system to generate the 5,992 current known minerals and the multitude of proteins in existence today. Emerging research indicates an interdependent co-evolutionary process between minerals and proteins, powering the cumulative complexity in each. Unveiling and understanding this co-evolution is key to determining formation factors and future species development, as well as to develop organic-inorganic technologies and medical treatments. This research focuses on copper as a test case for examining the co-evolution. 771 copper minerals and ~20 copper proteins are examined, with a focus on Type 1 blue copper proteins, specifically 2 electron-transport cupredoxin families (plastocyanin and azurin). Data from these minerals and proteins are compared on the basis of five different parameters. 23 copper parent organisms were processed thru TimeTree software to create a ‘timescale’ of life. Phylogenetic trees are created to establish evolutionary protein relationships that can be compared to copper mineral age dates, confirming the occurrence of global oxygenation in order to determine the appearance of these copper proteins and minerals and their early diversification. From the Protein Data Bank, 94 copper group IDs and 512 copper site IDs can be used to analyze protein subunits, domains, modules, and binding families in conjunction with gene & protein sequences. Other parameter comparisons include the correlation of Eh-pH redox diagrams and the geometry of coordination sites and crystal structures. Copper mineral distribution and age placement coupled with copper protein phylogeny succession indicates an interactive evolution.