Space Exposure of Amino Acids and Their Precursors during the Tanpopo Mission

Kobayashi, Kensei; Mita, Hajime; Kebukawa, Yoko; Nakagawa, Kazumichi; Kaneko, Takeo; Obayashi, Yumiko; Sato, Takako; Yokoo, Takuya; Minematsu, Saaya; Fukuda, Hitoshi; Oguri, Y.; Yoda, Isao; Yoshida, Shizuo; Kanda, Kazuhiro; Imai, Eiichi; Yano, Hajime; Hashimoto, Hirofumi; Yokobori, Shin-ichi; Yamagishi, Akihiko

doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0027

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…CM chondrites typically have cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages (CRE ages measure the length of time a body spends between its final breakup by impact, which places its interior within a few meters of the radiation environment, and delivery to the Earth) that are <2 million years (Myr; Krietsch et al., 2021). When the interior of the parent body is exposed to cosmic ray radiation, free amino acids and their precursors are prone to photodestruction (Ehrenfreund, Bernstein, et al., 2001; Pilling et al., 2008), while bound amino acids and the cyclic precursor are more radiostable (Kobayashi et al., 2021). Furthermore, the Winchcombe meteoroid was determined to have entered near‐Earth space (perihelion distance <1.3 astronomical unit [AU]) at about ~80,000 years (~0.08 Myr) ago, and remained at >0.7 AU throughout its history (King et al., 2022).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The amino acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compositions of the promptly recovered CM2 Winchcombe carbonaceous chondrite

Chan

Watson

Sephton

et al. 2023

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The rapid recovery of the Winchcombe meteorite offers a valuable opportunity to study the soluble organic matter (SOM) profile in pristine carbonaceous astromaterials. Our interests in the biologically relevant molecules, amino acids-monomers of protein, and the most prevalent meteoritic organics-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are addressed by analyzing the solvent extracts of a Winchcombe meteorite stone using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The Winchcombe sample contains an amino acid abundance of ~1132 parts-per-billion that is about 10 times lower than other CM2 meteorites. The detection of terrestrially rare amino acids, including a-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB); isovaline; b-alanine; a-, b-, and c-amino-n-butyric acids; and 5-aminopentanoic acid, and the racemic enantiomeric ratios (D/L = 1) observed for alanine and isovaline indicate that these amino acids are indigenous to the meteorite and not terrestrial contaminants. The presence of predominantly a-AIB and isovaline is consistent with their formation via the Strecker-cyanohydrin synthetic pathway. The L-enantiomeric excesses in isovaline previously observed for aqueously altered meteorites were viewed as an indicator of parent body aqueous processing; thus, the racemic ratio of isovaline observed for Winchcombe, alongside the overall high free:total amino acid ratio, and the low amino acid concentration suggest that the analyzed stone is derived from a lithology that has experienced brief episode(s) of aqueous alteration. Winchcombe also contains 2-to 6-ring alkylated and nonalkylated PAHs. The low total PAHs abundance (6177 ppb) and high nonalkylated:alkylated ratio are distinct from that observed for heavily aqueously altered CMs. The weak petrographic properties of Winchcombe, as well as the discrepancies observed for the Winchcombe SOM content-a low total amino acid abundance comparable to heavily altered CMs, and yet the high free:total amino acid and nonalkylated:alkylated PAH ratios are on par with the less altered CMs-suggest that Winchcombe could represent a class of weak, poorly lithified meteorite not been previously studied.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The amino acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compositions of the promptly recovered CM2 Winchcombe carbonaceous chondrite

Chan

Watson

Sephton

et al. 2023

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Notably, the above discussion is relevant to free amino acids; however, amino acids bound to macromolecular species, which would yield amino acids as a result of acid hydrolysis, would exhibit higher stability than free amino acids. For example, amino acids present in the complex amino acid precursor synthesized by proton irradiation of gas mixtures, in a process intended to simulate the interstellar medium, exhibited higher stability than free amino acids when subjected to heating or gamma-ray irradiation. , Solid-state amino acids are known to be gamma-ray-resistant; for example, in the solid state, ∼70% of alanine was observed to survive irradiation with a 3.2-MGy dose of gamma rays, although decomposition of amino acids was accelerated at least a factor of 10 with the presence of dry silica powder . Thus, following the aqueous alteration, amino acids should be stable over long periods of time at low temperatures (<0 °C) in the interior of asteroids.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gamma-Ray-Induced Amino Acid Formation in Aqueous Small Bodies in the Early Solar System

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Carbonaceous chondrites contain life’s essential building blocks, including amino acids, and their delivery of organic compounds would have played a key role in life’s emergence on Earth. Aqueous alteration of carbonaceous chondrites is a widespread process induced by the heat produced by radioactive decay of nuclides like 26Al. Simple ubiquitous molecules like formaldehyde and ammonia could produce various organic compounds, including amino acids and complex organic macromolecules. However, the effects of radiation on such organic chemistry are unknown. Hence, the effects of gamma rays from radioactive decays on the formation of amino acids in meteorite parent bodies are demonstrated here. We discovered that gamma-ray irradiation of aqueous formaldehyde and ammonia solutions afforded a variety of amino acids. The amino acid yields had a linear relationship with the total gamma-ray dose but were unaffected by the irradiation dose rates. Given the gamma-ray production rates in the meteorite parent bodies, we estimated that the production rates were reasonable compared to amino acid abundances in carbonaceous chondrites. Our findings indicate that gamma rays may contribute to amino acid formation in parent bodies during aqueous alteration. In this paper, we propose a new prebiotic amino acid formation pathway that contributes to life’s origin.

show abstract

“…After each extraction, the filtered extract was desalted using an AG-50X8 cation exchange resin (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA) and subjected to amino acid analysis by cation-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (Takano et al ., 2004 c ; Kobayashi et al ., 2021 a , 2021 b ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After cooling to ambient temperature, the tube was placed on a hot plate to evaporate HF/HCl under an N 2 stream. The residue was dissolved in pure water, filtered through a membrane filter and acid-hydrolysed with 6 M HCl at 110°C for 24 h. After each extraction, the filtered extract was desalted using an AG-50X8 cation exchange resin (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA) and subjected to amino acid analysis by cation-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (Takano et al, 2004c;Kobayashi et al, 2021aKobayashi et al, , 2021b.…”

Section: Determination Of Amino Acidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We measured ALPase activity in extreme environments such as rock samples in the deep sea hydrothermal subvents of the Suiyo Seamount, Izu-Bonin Arc in the Pacific Ocean (Takano et al, 2005) and Antarctica soils near the Showa Base (Kobayashi et al, 2021a(Kobayashi et al, , 2021b. We also analysed ALPase activity in soil samples from Japan, including core samples from Rikubetsu, Hokkaido (Takano et al, 2006) and soil samples from the YNU campus.…”

Section: Phosphatase Activity As a Tool For Detecting Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Biomarkers in the Atacama Desert along the moisture gradient and the depth in the hyperarid zone: Phosphatase activity as trace of microbial activity

Kobayashi

Nauny

Takano

et al. 2022

International Journal of Astrobiology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microbiological activities can be detected in various extreme environments on Earth, which suggest that extraterrestrial environments, such as on Mars, could host life. There have been proposed a number of biomarkers to detect extant life mostly based on specific molecules. Because terrestrial organisms have catalytic proteins (enzymes), enzymatic activity may also be a good indicator to evaluate biological activities in extreme environments. Phosphatases are essential for all terrestrial organisms because phosphate esters are ubiquitously used in genetic molecules (DNA/RNA) and membranes. In this study, we evaluated microbial activity in soils of the Atacama Desert, Chile, by analysing several biomarkers, including phosphatase activity. Phosphatases extracted with Tris buffer were assayed fluorometrically using 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate as a substrate. The horizontal distribution of phosphatase activity and other parameters in soils from the Atacama Desert showed that phosphatase activity was positively correlated with amino acid concentration and colony-forming units and negatively correlated with precipitation amount. We found consistent that biochemical indicators including phosphatase significantly decreased in the extreme hyper-arid zone where rainfall of <25 mm year−1. The results were compared with phosphatase activities detected in extreme environments, such as submarine hydrothermal systems and Antarctic soils, as well as soils from ordinary environments. Overall, our results suggested that phosphatase activity could be a good indicator for evaluating biological activities in extreme environments.

show abstract

Space Exposure of Amino Acids and Their Precursors during the Tanpopo Mission

Cited by 6 publications

References 70 publications

The amino acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compositions of the promptly recovered CM2 Winchcombe carbonaceous chondrite

The amino acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compositions of the promptly recovered CM2 Winchcombe carbonaceous chondrite

Gamma-Ray-Induced Amino Acid Formation in Aqueous Small Bodies in the Early Solar System

Biomarkers in the Atacama Desert along the moisture gradient and the depth in the hyperarid zone: Phosphatase activity as trace of microbial activity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About