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McIntosh O, García-Florentino C, Fornaro T, Marabello D, Alberini A, Siljeström S, Biczysko M, Szopa C, Brucato J. Undecanoic Acid and L-Phenylalanine in Vermiculite: Detection, Characterization, and UV Degradation Studies for Biosignature Identification on Mars. Astrobiology 2024; 24:518-537. [PMID: 38669050 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2023.0088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Solar radiation that arrives on the surface of Mars interacts with organic molecules present in the soil. The radiation can degrade or transform the organic matter and make the search for biosignatures on the planet's surface difficult. Therefore, samples to be analyzed by instruments on board Mars probes for molecular content should be selectively chosen to have the highest organic preservation content. To support the identification of organic molecules on Mars, the behavior under UV irradiation of two organic compounds, undecanoic acid and L-phenylalanine, in the presence of vermiculite and two chloride salts, NaCl and MgCl, was studied. The degradation of the molecule's bands was monitored through IR spectroscopy. Our results show that, while vermiculite acts as a photoprotective mineral with L-phenylalanine, it catalyzes the photodegradation of undecanoic acid molecules. On the other hand, both chloride salts studied decreased the degradation of both organic species acting as photoprotectors. While these results do not allow us to conclude on the preservation capabilities of vermiculite, they show that places where chloride salts are present could be good candidates for in situ analytic experiments on Mars due to their organic preservation capacity under UV radiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ophélie McIntosh
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ Université Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Guyancourt, France
- INAF - Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
| | - Cristina García-Florentino
- INAF - Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Teresa Fornaro
- INAF - Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
| | - Domenica Marabello
- Department of Chemistry, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
- Interdepartmental Center for Crystallography, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | | | - Sandra Siljeström
- Department of Methodology, Textiles and Medical Technology, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Malgorzata Biczysko
- International Centre for Quantum and Molecular Structures, Physics Department, College of Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
| | - Cyril Szopa
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ Université Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Guyancourt, France
| | - John Brucato
- INAF - Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
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Boulesteix D, Buch A, Samson J, Millan M, Jomaa J, Coscia D, Moulay V, McIntosh O, Freissinet C, Stern JC, Szopa C. Influence of pH and salts on DMF-DMA derivatization for future Space Applications. Anal Chim Acta 2023; 1266:341270. [PMID: 37244655 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
For gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses performed in situ, pH and salts (e.g., chlorides, sulfates) may enhance or inhibit the detection of targeted molecules of interest for astrobiology (e.g. amino acids, fatty acids, nucleobases). Obviously, salts influence the ionic strength of the solutions, the pH value, and the salting effect. But the presence of salts may also produce complexes or mask ions in the sample (masking effect on hydroxide ion, ammonia, etc.). For future space missions, wet chemistry will be conducted before GC-MS analyses to detect the full organic content of a sample. The defined organic targets for space GC-MS instrument requirements are generally strongly polar or refractory organic compounds, such as amino acids playing a role in the protein production and metabolism regulations for life on Earth, nucleobases essential for DNA and RNA formation and mutation, and fatty acids that composed most of the eukaryote and prokaryote membranes on Earth and resist to environmental stress long enough to still be observed on Mars or ocean worlds in geological well-preserved records. The wet-chemistry chemical treatment consists of reacting an organic reagent with the sample to extract and volatilize polar or refractory organic molecules (i.e. dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMF-DMA) in this study). DMF-DMA derivatizes functional groups with labile H in organics, without modifying their chiral conformation. The influence of pH and salt concentration of extraterrestrial materials on the DMF-DMA derivatization remains understudied. In this research, we studied the influence of different salts and pHs on the derivatization of organic molecules of astrobiological interest with DMF-DMA, such as amino acids, carboxylic acids, and nucleobases. Results show that salts and pH influence the derivatization yield, and that their effect depend on the nature of the organics and the salts studied. Second, monovalent salts lead to a higher or similar organic recovery compared to divalent salts regardless of pH below 8. However, a pH above 8 inhibits the DMF-DMA derivatization influencing the carboxylic acid function to become an anionic group without labile H. Overall, considering the negative effect of the salts on the detection of organic molecules, future space missions may have to consider a desalting step prior to derivatization and GC-MS analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Boulesteix
- Laboratoire Génie des Procédés et Matériaux, CentraleSupélec, University Paris-Saclay, 8-10 Rue Joliot-Curie, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - A Buch
- Laboratoire Génie des Procédés et Matériaux, CentraleSupélec, University Paris-Saclay, 8-10 Rue Joliot-Curie, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - J Samson
- Laboratoire Génie des Procédés et Matériaux, CentraleSupélec, University Paris-Saclay, 8-10 Rue Joliot-Curie, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - M Millan
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ University Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne University, CNRS, 11 Bd d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France
| | - J Jomaa
- Planetary Environments Laboratory (Code 699), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA; School of Medicine, Wayne State University, 42 W. Warren Ave, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
| | - D Coscia
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ University Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne University, CNRS, 11 Bd d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France
| | - V Moulay
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ University Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne University, CNRS, 11 Bd d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France
| | - O McIntosh
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ University Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne University, CNRS, 11 Bd d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France
| | - C Freissinet
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ University Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne University, CNRS, 11 Bd d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France
| | - J C Stern
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - C Szopa
- LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ University Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne University, CNRS, 11 Bd d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France
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Azua-Bustos A, Fairén AG, González-Silva C, Prieto-Ballesteros O, Carrizo D, Sánchez-García L, Parro V, Fernández-Martínez MÁ, Escudero C, Muñoz-Iglesias V, Fernández-Sampedro M, Molina A, Villadangos MG, Moreno-Paz M, Wierzchos J, Ascaso C, Fornaro T, Brucato JR, Poggiali G, Manrique JA, Veneranda M, López-Reyes G, Sanz-Arranz A, Rull F, Ollila AM, Wiens RC, Reyes-Newell A, Clegg SM, Millan M, Johnson SS, McIntosh O, Szopa C, Freissinet C, Sekine Y, Fukushi K, Morida K, Inoue K, Sakuma H, Rampe E. Dark microbiome and extremely low organics in Atacama fossil delta unveil Mars life detection limits. Nat Commun 2023; 14:808. [PMID: 36810853 PMCID: PMC9944251 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36172-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying unequivocal signs of life on Mars is one of the most important objectives for sending missions to the red planet. Here we report Red Stone, a 163-100 My alluvial fan-fan delta that formed under arid conditions in the Atacama Desert, rich in hematite and mudstones containing clays such as vermiculite and smectites, and therefore geologically analogous to Mars. We show that Red Stone samples display an important number of microorganisms with an unusual high rate of phylogenetic indeterminacy, what we refer to as "dark microbiome", and a mix of biosignatures from extant and ancient microorganisms that can be barely detected with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment. Our analyses by testbed instruments that are on or will be sent to Mars unveil that although the mineralogy of Red Stone matches that detected by ground-based instruments on the red planet, similarly low levels of organics will be hard, if not impossible to detect in Martian rocks depending on the instrument and technique used. Our results stress the importance in returning samples to Earth for conclusively addressing whether life ever existed on Mars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armando Azua-Bustos
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain. .,Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Alberto G Fairén
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Daniel Carrizo
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Victor Parro
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | | | | | - Antonio Molina
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Jacek Wierzchos
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carmen Ascaso
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - Teresa Fornaro
- INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Florence, Italy
| | | | | | - Jose Antonio Manrique
- Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain.,Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), Toulouse, France
| | | | | | | | | | - Ann M Ollila
- Purdue University, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, West Lafayette, USA
| | - Roger C Wiens
- Purdue University, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, West Lafayette, USA
| | | | - Samuel M Clegg
- Purdue University, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, West Lafayette, USA
| | - Maëva Millan
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA.,NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA.,LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ Université Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, 11 Bd d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France
| | - Sarah Stewart Johnson
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA.,Science, Technology, and International Affairs Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
| | - Ophélie McIntosh
- INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Florence, Italy.,Science, Technology, and International Affairs Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
| | - Cyril Szopa
- Science, Technology, and International Affairs Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
| | - Caroline Freissinet
- Science, Technology, and International Affairs Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
| | - Yasuhito Sekine
- Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.,Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Keisuke Fukushi
- Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Koki Morida
- Division of Natural System, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Kosuke Inoue
- Division of Natural System, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Sakuma
- National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Elizabeth Rampe
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
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