Limits of Life

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Limits to Life at Low Temperatures and at Reduced Water Contents and Water Activities

   • Peter Mazur

   Pages 1-23

3. Biological Limits of Temperature and Pressure

   • Richard Y. Morita

   Pages 25-32

4. Endolithic Microbial Life in Hot and Cold Deserts

   • E. Imre Friedmann

   Pages 33-45

5. Purification and Properties of Malate Dehydrogenase from the Extreme Thermophile Bacillus Caldolyticus

   • Hordur Kristjansson, Cyril Ponnamperuma

   Pages 47-54

6. The Gas Vacuole: An Early Organelle of Prokaryote Motility?

   • James T. Staley

   Pages 55-60

7. Physical Chemistry and Evolution of Salt Tolerance in Halobacteria

   • Janos K. Lanyi

   Pages 61-67

8. Halophily and Halotolerance in Cyanophytes

   • Stjepko Golubic

   Pages 69-83

9. Soil Stabilization by a Prokaryotic Desert Crust: Implications for Precambrian Land Biota

   • S. E. Campbell

   Pages 85-98

10. The Evolution of the Solar ‘Constant’

    • Michael J. Newman

    Pages 99-104

11. Ozone, Ultraviolet Flux and Temperature of the Paleoatmosphere

    • Joel S. Levine, Robert E. Boughner, Kathryn A. Smith

    Pages 105-119

12. Atmospheric Constraints on the Evolution of Metabolism

    • James C. G. Walker

    Pages 121-132

13. Archean Photoautotrophy: Some Alternatives and Limits

    • Andrew H. Knoll

    Pages 133-147

14. Sulphur Isotope Ratios in Late and Early Precambrian Sediments and Their Implications Regarding Early Environments and Early Life

    • H. G. Thode

    Pages 149-158

15. Antiquity and Evolutionary Status of Bacterial Sulfate Reduction: Sulfur Isotope Evidence

    • Manfred Schidlowski

    Pages 159-171

16. Structural Features of Manganese Precipitating Bacteria

    • Kenneth H. Nealson, Bradley Tebo

    Pages 173-182

17. The Radioracemization of Amino Acids by Ionizing Radiation: Geochemical and Cosmochemical Implications

    • William A. Bonner, Neal E. Blair, Richard M. Lemmon

    Pages 183-194

18. Erratum to: Antiquity and Evolutionary Status of Bacterial Sulfate Reduction: Sulfur Isotope Evidence

    • Cyril Ponnamperuma, Lynn Margulis

    Pages 201-201

19. Back Matter

    Pages 195-199

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This volume is the fourth in the series of the Proceedings of the College Park Colloquia on Chemical Evolution. These Colloquia, and the resulting Proceedings, are presented in the interest of fostering the impact of the interdisciplinary nature of chemical evolu­ tion on contemporary scientific thought. vii EDITORS'INTRODUCTION The Fourth College Park Colloquium on Chemical Evolution was held on October 18 - 20, 1978 at the University of Maryland. The meeting, supported by the National Aero­ nautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation, centered on the variable environments, both past and present, in which living organisms have survived, grown, and evolved - the limits of life. Previous colloquia had emphasized the Giant Planets (1974) 1, Early Life during the Precambrian (1975)2 and Comparative Planetology (1976)3. The College Park Colloquia have been noted for the broad interdisciplinary nature of the training and interests of the participants. The fourth meeting was no ex­ ception with the participation of approximately 85 researchers, representing many academic fields. As with previous meetings, the interdisciplinary approach to the question of the limits of life encouraged the exchange of knowledge and information. A major scientific aspiration is to understand why living systems are restricted to certain environments.

• Cambrian
• atmosphere
• bacteria
• desert
• environment
• evolution
• formation
• isotope
• metabolism
• ozone
• radiation
• research
• soil
• temperature
• water

• Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

  Cyril Ponnamperuma

• Dept. of Biology, Boston University, Boston, USA

  Lynn Margulis

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