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Fu Y, Tao R, Zhang L, Li S, Yang YN, Shen D, Wang Z, Meier T. Trace element detection in anhydrous minerals by micro-scale quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7293. [PMID: 39181900 PMCID: PMC11344839 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51131-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 07/30/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) composing Earth's and planetary rocks incorporate microscopic amounts of volatiles. However, volatile distribution in NAMs and their effect on physical properties of rocks remain controversial. Thus, constraining trace volatile concentrations in NAMs is tantamount to our understanding of the evolution of rocky planets and planetesimals. Here, we present an approach of trace-element quantification using micro-scale Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This approach employs the principle of enhanced mass-sensitivity in NMR microcoils. We were able to demonstrate that this method is in excellent agreement with standard methods across their respective detection capabilities. We show that by simultaneous detection of internal reference nuclei, the quantification sensitivity can be substantially increased, leading to quantifiable trace volatile element amounts of about 50 ng/g measured in a micro-meter sized single anorthitic mineral grain, greatly enhancing detection capabilities of volatiles in geologically important systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunhua Fu
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Center for High-Pressure Science and Technology Advance Research, Beijing, China
| | - Renbiao Tao
- Center for High-Pressure Science and Technology Advance Research, Beijing, China.
| | - Lifei Zhang
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shijie Li
- Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China
| | - Ya-Nan Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Dehan Shen
- Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China
| | - Zilong Wang
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Thomas Meier
- Center for High-Pressure Science and Technology Advance Research, Beijing, China.
- Shanghai Key Laboratory MFree, Institute for Shanghai Advanced Research in Physical Sciences, Pudong, Shanghai, 201203, China.
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Ziurys LM. Prebiotic Astrochemistry from Astronomical Observations and Laboratory Spectroscopy. Annu Rev Phys Chem 2024; 75:307-327. [PMID: 38382568 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-physchem-090722-010849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
The discovery of more than 200 gas-phase chemical compounds in interstellar space has led to the speculation that this nonterrestrial synthesis may play a role in the origin of life. These identifications were possible because of laboratory spectroscopy, which provides the molecular fingerprints for astronomical observations. Interstellar chemistry produces a wide range of small, organic molecules in dense clouds, such as NH2COCH3, CH3OCH3, CH3COOCH3, and CH2(OH)CHO. Carbon (C) is also carried in the fullerenes C60 and C70, which can preserve C-C bonds from circumstellar environments for future synthesis. Elusive phosphorus has now been found in molecular clouds, the sites of star formation, in the molecules PO and PN. Such clouds can collapse into solar systems, although the chemical/physical processing of the emerging planetary disk is uncertain. The presence of molecule-rich interstellar starting material, as well as the link to planetary bodies such as meteorites and comets, suggests that astrochemical processes set a prebiotic foundation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy M Ziurys
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Astronomy, and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA;
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Prebiotic Synthesis of ATP: A Terrestrial Volcanism-Dependent Pathway. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:life13030731. [PMID: 36983886 PMCID: PMC10053121 DOI: 10.3390/life13030731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional small molecule, necessary for all modern Earth life, which must be a component of the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). However, the relatively complex structure of ATP causes doubts about its accessibility on prebiotic Earth. In this paper, based on previous studies on the synthesis of ATP components, a plausible prebiotic pathway yielding this key molecule is constructed, which relies on terrestrial volcanism to provide the required materials and suitable conditions.
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Jusino-Maldonado M, Rianço-Silva R, Mondal JA, Pasek M, Laneuville M, Cleaves HJ. A global network model of abiotic phosphorus cycling on Earth through time. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9348. [PMID: 35672423 PMCID: PMC9174171 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12994-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Phosphorus (P) is a crucial structural component of living systems and central to modern bioenergetics. P cycles through terrestrial geochemical reservoirs via complex physical and chemical processes. Terrestrial life has altered these fluxes between reservoirs as it evolved, which is why it is of interest to explore planetary P flux evolution in the absence of biology. This is especially true, since environmental P availability affects life’s ability to alter other geochemical cycles, which could then be an example of niche construction. Understanding how P reservoir transport affects environmental P availability helps parameterize how the evolution of P reservoirs influenced the emergence of life on Earth, and potentially other planetary bodies. Geochemical P fluxes likely change as planets evolve, and element cycling models that take those changes into account can provide insights on how P fluxes evolve abiotically. There is considerable uncertainty in many aspects of modern and historical global P cycling, including Earth’s initial P endowment and distribution after core formation and how terrestrial P interactions between reservoirs and fluxes and their rates have evolved over time. We present here a dynamical box model for Earth’s abiological P reservoir and flux evolution. This model suggests that in the absence of biology, long term planetary geochemical cycling on planets similar to Earth with respect to geodynamism tends to bring P to surface reservoirs, and biology, including human civilization, tends to move P to subductable marine reservoirs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos Jusino-Maldonado
- Planetary Habitability Laboratory, University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.,Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, USA
| | - Rafael Rianço-Silva
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, USA.,Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Javed Akhter Mondal
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, USA.,Department of Geology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 700019, India
| | | | | | - H James Cleaves
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, USA. .,Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan. .,Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA.
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The Prebiotic Provenance of Semi-Aqueous Solvents. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2020; 50:1-14. [PMID: 32388697 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-020-09595-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The numerous and varied roles of phosphorylated organic molecules in biochemistry suggest they may have been important to the origin of life. The prominence of phosphorylated molecules presents a conundrum given that phosphorylation is a thermodynamically unfavorable, endergonic process in water, and most natural sources of phosphate are poorly soluble. We recently demonstrated that a semi-aqueous solvent consisting of urea, ammonium formate, and water (UAFW) supports the dissolution of phosphate and the phosphorylation of nucleosides. However, the prebiotic feasibility and robustness of the UAFW system are unclear. Here, we study the UAFW system as a medium in which phosphate minerals are potentially solubilized. Specifically, we conduct a series of chemical experiments alongside thermodynamic models that simulate the formation of ammonium formate from the hydrolysis of hydrogen cyanide, and demonstrate the stability of formamide in such solvents (as an aqueous mixture). The dissolution of hydroxylapatite requires a liquid medium, and we investigate whether a UAFW system is solid or liquid over varied conditions, finding that this characteristic is controlled by the molar ratios of the three components. For liquid UAFW mixtures, we also find the solubility of phosphate is higher when the quantity of ammonium formate is greater than urea. We suggest the urea within the system can lower the activity of water, help create a stable and persistent solution, and may act as a condensing agent/catalyst to improve nucleoside phosphorylation yields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A. Pasek
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue NES 204, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
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