Abiotic synthesis of amino acids in the recesses of the oceanic lithosphere

Ménez, Bénédicte; Pisapia, Céline; Andréani, M.; Jamme, Frédéric; Vanbellingen, Quentin; Brunelle, Alain; Richard, Laurent; Dumas, Paul; Réfrégiers, Matthieu

doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0684-z

Cited by 175 publications

(155 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

152

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…by the reduction of inorganic precursors (Huber & Wächtershäuser, 1998, Proskurowski et al, 2008, Novikov & Copley, 2013. Recently, in-situ 4 evidence of abiotically formed tryptophan was obtained at depth beneath the Atlantis Massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge), suggesting that the serpentinizing hydrothermal field could synthesize some prebiotic molecules of interest efficiently (Ménez et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposition of Amino Acids in Water with Application to In-Situ Measurements of Enceladus, Europa and Other Hydrothermally Active Icy Ocean Worlds

Truong¹

2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To test the potential of using amino acid abundances as a biosignature at icy ocean worlds, we investigate whether primordial amino acids (accreted or formed by early aqueous processes) could persist until the present time. By examining the decomposition kinetics of amino acids in aqueous solution based on existing laboratory rate data, we find that all fourteen proteinogenic amino acids considered in this study decompose to a very large extent (>99.9%) over relatively short lengths of time in hydrothermally active oceans. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, we suggest that if amino acids are detected at Enceladus, Europa, or other hydrothermally active ocean worlds above a concentration of 1 nM, they should have been formed recently and not be relicts of early processes. In particular, the detection of aspartic acid (Asp) and threonine (Thr) would strongly suggest active production within the ocean, as these amino acids cannot persist beyond 1 billion years even at the freezing point temperature of 273K. Identifying amino acids from the oceans of icy worlds can provide key insight into their history of organic chemistry.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposition of Amino Acids in Water with Application to In-Situ Measurements of Enceladus, Europa and Other Hydrothermally Active Icy Ocean Worlds

Truong¹

2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Organic synthesis in hydrothermal vents is relevant to life’s origin because the reactions involve sustained energy release founded in the disequilibrium between CO 2 and the vast amounts of molecular hydrogen, H 2 , generated in the Earth’s crust during serpentinization 1,2,9,10,15–19 . Enzymatic versions of those abiotic reactions occur in core energy metabolism in acetogens and methanogens 4–7 , ancient anaerobic autotrophs that live from H 2 and CO 2 via the acetyl-CoA pathway and that still inhabit the crust today 7 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A hydrogen dependent geochemical analogue of primordial carbon and energy metabolism

Preiner

Igarashi

Muchowska

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

28Hydrogen gas, H2, is generated in alkaline hydrothermal vents from reactions of iron 29 containing minerals with water during a geological process called serpentinization. It has been 30 a source of electrons and energy since there was liquid water on the early Earth, and it fuelled 31 early anaerobic ecosystems in the Earth's crust 1-3 . H2 is the electron donor for the most 32 ancient route of biological CO2 fixation, the acetyl-CoA (or Wood-Ljungdahl) pathway, 33 which unlike any other autotrophic pathway simultaneously supplies three key requirements 34 for life: reduced carbon in the form of acetyl groups, electrons in the form of reduced 35 ferredoxin, and ion gradients for energy conservation in the form of ATP 4,5 . The pathway is 36 linear, not cyclic, it releases energy rather than requiring energy input, its enzymes are replete 37 with primordial metal cofactors 6,7 , it traces to the last universal common ancestor 8 and abiotic, 38 geochemical organic syntheses resembling segments of the pathway occur in hydrothermal 39 vents today 9,10 . Laboratory simulations of the acetyl-CoA pathway's reactions include the 40 nonenzymatic synthesis of thioesters from CO and methylsulfide 11 , the synthesis of acetate 12 41 and pyruvate 13 from CO2 using native iron or external electrochemical potentials 14 as the 42 electron source. However, a full abiotic analogue of the acetyl-CoA pathway from H2 and 43 CO2 as it occurs in life has not been reported to date. Here we show that three hydrothermal 44 mineralsawaruite (Ni3Fe), magnetite (Fe3O4) and greigite (Fe3S4)catalyse the fixation 45 of CO2 with H2 at 100 °C under alkaline aqueous conditions. The product spectrum includes 46 formate (100 mM), acetate (100 µM), pyruvate (10 µM), methanol (100 µM), and methane. 47 With these simple catalysts, the overall exergonic reaction of the acetyl-CoA pathway is 48 facile, shedding light on both the geochemical origin of microbial metabolism and on the 49 nature of abiotic formate and methane synthesis in modern hydrothermal vents. 50 51 Organic synthesis in hydrothermal vents is relevant to life's origin because the reactions 52 involve sustained energy release founded in the disequilibrium between CO2 and the vast 53 amounts of molecular hydrogen, H2, generated in the Earth's crust during 54 serpentinization 1,2,9,10,[15][16][17][18][19] . Enzymatic versions of those abiotic reactions occur in core energy 55 metabolism in acetogens and methanogens 4-7 , ancient anaerobic autotrophs that live from H2 56 and CO2 via the acetyl-CoA pathway and that still inhabit the crust today 7 . Though the 57 enzymes that catalyse the microbial reactions are well investigated 4-7 , the catalysts promoting 58 the abiotic reactions in vents today, and that might have been instrumental at life's origin, are 59 not fully understood 9 . To probe the mechanisms of hydrothermal metabolic reactions 60 3 emulating ancient pathways, we investigated three iron minerals that naturally occur in 61 hydrothermal vents: greigite (...

show abstract

“…Short‐chain hydrocarbons can also be produced by these reactions and have been identified in hydrothermal fluids discharged at mid‐ocean ridge systems and in products from analog experiments (e.g., Holm & Charlou, ; Konn et al, ; McCollom & Seewald, ). Recent studies of natural serpentinites from the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (Ménez et al, ; Ménez, Pisapiaet al, ) and a 90 Ma Tethyan ophiolite (Sforna et al, ) have documented reduced organic carbon associated with the alteration minerals (Figure in Sforna et al, ). On Mars, such reactions have been suggested as important contributors to the inventory of atmospheric CH 4 (Oze & Sharma, ) and could also be a source of PAHs found in meteorites (Zolotov & Shock, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critically testing olivine‐hosted putative martian biosignatures in the Yamato 000593 meteorite—Geobiological implications

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

On rocky planets such as Earth and Mars the serpentinization of olivine in ultramafic crust produces hydrogen that can act as a potential energy source for life. Direct evidence of fluid–rock interaction on Mars comes from iddingsite alteration veins found in martian meteorites. In the Yamato 000593 meteorite, putative biosignatures have been reported from altered olivines in the form of microtextures and associated organic material that have been compared to tubular bioalteration textures found in terrestrial sub‐seafloor volcanic rocks. Here, we use a suite of correlative, high‐sensitivity, in situ chemical, and morphological analyses to characterize and re‐evaluate these microalteration textures in Yamato 000593, a clinopyroxenite from the shallow subsurface of Mars. We show that the altered olivine crystals have angular and micro‐brecciated margins and are also highly strained due to impact‐induced fracturing. The shape of the olivine microalteration textures is in no way comparable to microtunnels of inferred biological origin found in terrestrial volcanic glasses and dunites, and rather we argue that the Yamato 000593 microtextures are abiotic in origin. Vein filling iddingsite extends into the olivine microalteration textures and contains amorphous organic carbon occurring as bands and sub‐spherical concentrations <300 nm across. We propose that a martian impact event produced the micro‐brecciated olivine crystal margins that reacted with subsurface hydrothermal fluids to form iddingsite containing organic carbon derived from abiotic sources. These new data have implications for how we might seek potential biosignatures in ultramafic rocks and impact craters on both Mars and Earth.

show abstract

Abiotic synthesis of amino acids in the recesses of the oceanic lithosphere

Cited by 175 publications

References 67 publications

Decomposition of Amino Acids in Water with Application to In-Situ Measurements of Enceladus, Europa and Other Hydrothermally Active Icy Ocean Worlds

Decomposition of Amino Acids in Water with Application to In-Situ Measurements of Enceladus, Europa and Other Hydrothermally Active Icy Ocean Worlds

A hydrogen dependent geochemical analogue of primordial carbon and energy metabolism

Critically testing olivine‐hosted putative martian biosignatures in the Yamato 000593 meteorite—Geobiological implications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About