Synthesis of biomolecules from N2, CO, and H2O by electric discharge

Which amino acids should be used in prebiotic chemistry studies?

The adsorption of amino acids on minerals and their condensation under conditions that resemble those of prebiotic earth is a well studied subject. However, which amino acids should be used in these experiments is still an open question. The main goal of this review is to attempt to answer this question. There were two sources of amino acids for the prebiotic earth: (1) exogenous -- meaning that the amino acids were synthesized outside the earth and delivered to our planet by interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), meteorites, comets, etc. and (2) endogenous -- meaning that they were synthesized on earth in atmospheric mixtures, hydrothermal vents, etc. For prebiotic chemistry studies, the use of a mixture of amino acids from both endogenous and exogenous sources is suggested. The exogenous contribution of amino acids to this mixture is very different from the average composition of proteins, and contains several non-protein amino acids. On the other hand, the mixture of amino acids from endogenous sources is seems to more closely resemble the amino acid composition of terrestrial proteins.

Prebiotic synthesis from CO atmospheres: implications for the origins of life

Most models of the primitive atmosphere around the time life originated suggest that the atmosphere was dominated by carbon dioxide, largely based on the notion that the atmosphere was derived via volcanic outgassing, and that those gases were similar to those found in modern volcanic effluent. These models tend to downplay the possibility of a strongly reducing atmosphere, which had been thought to be important for prebiotic synthesis and thus the origin of life. However, there is no definitive geologic evidence for the oxidation state of the early atmosphere and bioorganic compounds are not efficiently synthesized from CO(2) atmospheres. In the present study, it was shown that a CO-CO(2)-N(2)-H(2)O atmosphere can give a variety of bioorganic compounds with yields comparable to those obtained from a strongly reducing atmosphere. Atmospheres containing carbon monoxide might therefore have been conducive to prebiotic synthesis and perhaps the origin of life. CO-dominant atmospheres could have existed if the production rate of CO from impacts of extraterrestrial materials were high or if the upper mantle had been more reduced than today.

Evolution of the genetic code

Comparative path lengths in amino acid biosynthesis and other molecular indicators of the timing of codon assignment were examined to reconstruct the main stages of code evolution. The codon tree obtained was rooted in the 4 N-fixing amino acids (Asp, Glu, Asn, Gln) and 16 triplets of the NAN set. This small, locally phased (commaless) code evidently arose from ambiguous translation on a poly(A) collector strand, in a surface reaction network. Copolymerisation of these amino acids yields polyanionic peptide chains, which could anchor uncharged amide residues to a positively charged mineral surface. From RNA virus structure and replication in vitro, the first genes seemed to be RNA segments spliced into tRNA. Expansion of the code reduced the risk of mutation to an unreadable codon. This step was conditional on initiation at the 5'-codon of a translated sequence. Incorporation of increasingly hydrophobic amino acids accompanied expansion. As codons of the NUN set were assigned most slowly, they received the most nonpolar amino acids. The origin of ferredoxin and Gln synthetase was traced to mid-expansion phase. Surface metabolism ceased by the end of code expansion, as cells bounded by a proteo-phospholipid membrane, with a protoATPase, had emerged. Incorporation of positively charged and aromatic amino acids followed. They entered the post-expansion code by codon capture. Synthesis of efficient enzymes with acid-base catalysis was then possible. Both types of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases were attributed to this stage. tRNA sequence diversity and error rates in RNA replication indicate the code evolved within 20 million yr in the preIsuan era. These findings on the genetic code provide empirical evidence, from a contemporaneous source, that a surface reaction network, centred on C-fixing autocatalytic cycles, rapidly led to cellular life on Earth.

Prebiotic cytosine synthesis: a critical analysis and implications for the origin of life

A number of theories propose that RNA, or an RNA-like substance, played a role in the origin of life. Usually, such hypotheses presume that the Watson-Crick bases were readily available on prebiotic Earth, for spontaneous incorporation into a replicator. Cytosine, however, has not been reported in analyses of meteorites nor is it among the products of electric spark discharge experiments. The reported prebiotic syntheses of cytosine involve the reaction of cyanoacetylene (or its hydrolysis product, cyanoacetaldehyde), with cyanate, cyanogen, or urea. These substances undergo side reactions with common nucleophiles that appear to proceed more rapidly than cytosine formation. To favor cytosine formation, reactant concentrations are required that are implausible in a natural setting. Furthermore, cytosine is consumed by deamination (the half-life for deamination at 25 degrees C is approximately 340 yr) and other reactions. No reactions have been described thus far that would produce cytosine, even in a specialized local setting, at a rate sufficient to compensate for its decomposition. On the basis of this evidence, it appears quite unlikely that cytosine played a role in the origin of life. Theories that involve replicators that function without the Watson-Crick pairs, or no replicator at all, remain as viable alternatives.

Possible complex organic compounds on Mars

It is suggested that primitive Mars had somehow similar environments as primitive Earth. If life was born on the primitive earth using organic compounds which were produced from the early Earth environment, the same types of organic compounds were also formed on primitive Mars. Such organic compounds might have been preserved on Mars still now. We are studying possible organic formation on primitive and present Mars. A gaseous mixture of CO2, CO, N2 and H2O with various mixing ratios were irradiated with high energy protons (major components of cosmic rays). Hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde were detected among volatile products, and yellow-brown-colored water-soluble non-volatile substances were produced, which gave amino acids after acid-hydrolysis. Major part of "amino acid precursors" were not simple molecules like aminonitriles, but complex compounds which eluted earlier than free amino acids in cation-exchange HPLC. These organic compounds should be major targets in the future Mars mission. Strategy for the detection of the complex organics on Mars will be discussed.

Possible role of volcanic ash-gas clouds in the Earth's prebiotic chemistry

Volcanic ash-gas clouds represent versatile local atmospheric environments appropriate for abiotic synthesis of rather complex organic molecules due to the simultaneous presence of various gaseous reagents, catalytically active inorganic particles, electric discharges, pressure and temperature gradients. They are relatively readily attainable for the scientists, contrary to objects or events of space origin (interstellar and planetary dust, meteoritic/cometary impacts, etc.), providing excellent opportunities for in situ studies and grounded simulating experiments. This paper reviews the available data on this environment, its most important chemical and physical parameters. Based on this analysis, it is suggested in brief experimental conditions for the simulation.