Concentration and variability of the AIB amino acid in polar micrometeorites: Implications for the exogenous delivery of amino acids to the primitive Earth

Matrajt, G.; Pizzarello, Sandra; Taylor, Susan; Brownlee, D. E.

doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.2004.tb00080.x

Cited by 67 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The present-day amino acid flux on Earth was estimated to be around 3.0 × 10 7 kg yr −1 (Matrajt et al 2004) M s −1 of glycine. We may also mention the flux of organic carbon in IDPs of 3.6 × 10 10 kg yr −1 that survived re-entry on the early Earth proposed by Wilson (2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the chemical diversity of the prebiotic ocean of early Earth

Canepa

2014

International Journal of Astrobiology

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This work investigates the consequences on the diverse number of chemical species in a pre-biotic terrestrial aqueous environment endowed with an amino acid source induced by the spontaneous build-up of catalytically active polypeptides from amino acid monomers. The assumed probability that a randomly-formed polypeptide exhibits catalytic properties is dependent on constraining both the chemical identity and the position of a fraction of the amino acid residues. Within this hypothesis, and using values of the average length of the catalytic polypeptides about one half of the present-day enzymes, the stationary-state concentration of the catalytically active polypeptides is ≈ 10 ≈ 10 yr and the asymptotic concentration of each product is of the same order of magnitude as the concentration of the substrate. In all cases the catalytic efficiency necessary to form the active peptides takes the typical values of present-day enzymes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the chemical diversity of the prebiotic ocean of early Earth

Canepa

2014

International Journal of Astrobiology

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“…That complex organic molecules are found in space and can successfully be delivered to Earth is well established. For example, amino acids have been found in meteorites (e.g., the Murchison meteorite, see Cronin, 1989) and Antarctic micrometeorites (Brinton et al, 1998;Matrajt et al, 2004), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been found in some interplanetary dust particles (Clemett et al, 1993, or see Sandford, 2008, for a recent review). Large objects in space have also been shown to possess complex organic compounds; for example, dust from comet 81P/Wild 2 has been shown to contain a variety of organic materials (Brownlee et al, 2006;Keller et al, 2006;Sandford et al, 2006), including amino acids, such as glycine, and amines (Glavin et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival of Organic Materials in Hypervelocity Impacts of Ice on Sand, Ice, and Water in the Laboratory

et al. 2014

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The survival of organic molecules in shock impact events has been investigated in the laboratory. A frozen mixture of anthracene and stearic acid, solvated in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), was fired in a two-stage light gas gun at speeds of *2 and *4 km s -1 at targets that included water ice, water, and sand. This involved shock pressures in the range of 2-12 GPa. It was found that the projectile materials were present in elevated quantities in the targets after impact and in some cases in the crater ejecta as well. For DMSO impacting water at 1.9 km s -1 and 45°incidence, we quantify the surviving fraction after impact as 0.44 -0.05. This demonstrates successful transfer of organic compounds from projectile to target in high-speed impacts. The range of impact speeds used covers that involved in impacts of terrestrial meteorites on the Moon, as well as impacts in the outer Solar System on icy bodies such as Pluto. The results provide laboratory evidence that suggests that exogenous delivery of complex organic molecules from icy impactors is a viable source of such material on target bodies.

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“…In a study searching for amino acids in Antarctic micrometeorites (Glavin et al 2004), the authors found no detectable levels of indigenous amino acids and concluded that these compounds are destroyed during atmospheric entry heating. However, Brinton et al (1998) and Matrajt et al (2004) found an amino acid, AIB (α-amino isobutyric acid), in some micrometeorites, suggesting that not all of the amino acids are destroyed during atmospheric entry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival of organic phases in porous IDPs during atmospheric entry: A pulse-heating study

Matrajt

Brownlee

Sadı́lek

et al. 2006

Meteoritics &Amp; Planetary Science

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Survival of organic phases in porous IDPs during atmospheric entry:A pulse-heating study We have shown that modest amounts (a few percent) of these organic molecules survive pulse-heating at temperatures in the 700 to 900 °C range. This suggests that the porosity in IDPs and MMs, combined with a sublimable phase (organic material, water), produces an ablative cooling effect, which permits the survival of organic molecules that would otherwise be lost either by thermal degradation or evaporation during atmospheric entry.

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Concentration and variability of the AIB amino acid in polar micrometeorites: Implications for the exogenous delivery of amino acids to the primitive Earth

Cited by 67 publications

References 57 publications

On the chemical diversity of the prebiotic ocean of early Earth

On the chemical diversity of the prebiotic ocean of early Earth

Survival of Organic Materials in Hypervelocity Impacts of Ice on Sand, Ice, and Water in the Laboratory

Survival of organic phases in porous IDPs during atmospheric entry: A pulse-heating study

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