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Ishikawa A, Kebukawa Y, Kobayashi K, Yoda I. Gamma-Ray-Induced Amino Acid Formation during Aqueous Alteration in Small Bodies: The Effects of Compositions of Starting Solutions. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:103. [PMID: 38255718 PMCID: PMC10817335 DOI: 10.3390/life14010103] [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: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Organic compounds, such as amino acids, are essential for the origin of life, and they may have been delivered to the prebiotic Earth from extra-terrestrial sources, such as carbonaceous chondrites. In the parent bodies of carbonaceous chondrites, the radioactive decays of short-lived radionuclides, such as 26Al, cause the melting of ice, and aqueous alteration occurs in the early stages of solar system formation. Many experimental studies have shown that complex organic matter, including amino acids and high-molecular-weight organic compounds, is produced by such hydrothermal processes. On the other hand, radiation, particularly gamma rays from radionuclides, can contribute to the formation of amino acids from simple molecules such as formaldehyde and ammonia. In this study, we investigated the details of gamma-ray-induced amino acid formation, focusing on the effects of different starting materials on aqueous solutions of formaldehyde, ammonia, methanol, and glycolaldehyde with various compositions, as well as hexamethylenetetramine. Alanine and glycine were the most abundantly formed amino acids after acid hydrolysis of gamma-ray-irradiated products. Amino acid formation increased with increasing gamma-ray irradiation doses. Lower amounts of ammonia relative to formaldehyde produced more amino acids. Glycolaldehyde significantly increased amino acid yields. Our results indicated that glycolaldehyde formation from formaldehyde enhanced by gamma rays is key for the subsequent production of amino acids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akari Ishikawa
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan (K.K.)
| | - Yoko Kebukawa
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan (K.K.)
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Kensei Kobayashi
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan (K.K.)
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Isao Yoda
- Co60 Irradiation Facility, Laboratory for Zero-Carbon Energy, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
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Li Y, Kurokawa H, Sekine Y, Kebukawa Y, Nakano Y, Kitadai N, Zhang N, Zang X, Ueno Y, Fujimori G, Nakamura R, Fujishima K, Isa J. Aqueous breakdown of aspartate and glutamate to n-ω-amino acids on the parent bodies of carbonaceous chondrites and asteroid Ryugu. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadh7845. [PMID: 38100590 PMCID: PMC10848742 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh7845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Amino acids in carbonaceous chondrites may have seeded the origin of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere. Recently, the return samples from a C-type asteroid Ryugu were found to contain amino acids with a similar distribution to Ivuna-type CI chondrites, suggesting the potential of amino acid abundances as molecular descriptors of parent body geochemistry. However, the chemical mechanisms responsible for the amino acid distributions remain to be elucidated particularly at low temperatures (<50°C). Here, we report that two representative proteinogenic amino acids, aspartic acid and glutamic acid, decompose to β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid, respectively, under simulated geoelectrochemical conditions at 25°C. This low-temperature conversion provides a plausible explanation for the enrichment of these two n-ω-amino acids compared to their precursors in heavily aqueously altered CI chondrites and Ryugu's return samples. The results suggest that these heavily aqueously altered samples originated from the water-rich mantle of their water/rock differentiated parent planetesimals where protein α-amino acids were decomposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamei Li
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Kurokawa
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Earth Science and Astronomy, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan
| | - Yasuhito Sekine
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
- Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Japan Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Kanazawa, Kakumachi 920-1192, Japan
- Planetary Plasma and Atmospheric Research Center, Tohoku University, Aramaki-aza-Aoba 6-3, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578, Japan
| | - Yoko Kebukawa
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogayaku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan
| | - Yuko Nakano
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Norio Kitadai
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
| | - Naizhong Zhang
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Xiaofeng Zang
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
| | - Yuichiro Ueno
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
| | - Gen Fujimori
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogayaku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan
| | - Ryuhei Nakamura
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Kosuke Fujishima
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, 5322 Endo, Fujisawa 252-0882, Japan
| | - Junko Isa
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, 2-17-1 Tsudanuma, Narashino, Chiba 275-0016, Japan
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