Synthesis and Degradation of Nucleobases and Nucleic Acids by Formamide in the Presence of Montmorillonites

Saladino, Raffaele; Crestini, Claudia; Ciambecchini, Umberto; Ciciriello, Fabiana; Costanzo, Giovanna; Mauro, Ernesto Di

doi:10.1002/cbic.200400119

Cited by 87 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…2 and Scheme 1 pathway "C") [74]. Uracil was probably produced by deamination of cytosine through a catalysis due to the known acidic character of montmorillonites [75].…”

Section: Syntheses Of Nucleic Bases From Formamidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide (AICA) and 5-formamidoimidazole-4-carboxamide (fAICA), the imidazole intermediates for hypoxanthine in the cell, were also detected in the condensation mixture [32,74]. Thus, the H 2 NCHO/montmorillonite syntheses appeared to be the first documented example of a chemiomimetic system [76,77].…”

Section: Syntheses Of Nucleic Bases From Formamidementioning

confidence: 99%

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Formamide and the origin of life

Saladino

Crestini

Pino

et al. 2012

Physics of Life Reviews

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243

234

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The complexity of life boils down to the definition: "self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution" (Joyce, 1994) [1]. The term "self-sustained" implies a set of chemical reactions capable of harnessing energy from the environment, using it to carry out programmed anabolic and catabolic functions. We briefly present our opinion on the general validity of this definition.Running anabolic and catabolic functions entails complex chemical information whose stability, reproducibility and evolution constitute the core of what is dubbed genetics.Life as-we-know-it is made of the intimate interaction of metabolism and genetics, both built around the chemistry of the most common elements of the Universe (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon). Other elements like phosphorus and sulphur play important but ancillary and potentially replaceable roles.The reproducible interaction of metabolic and genetic cycles results in the hypercycles of organization and de-organization of chemical information that we consider living entities. In order to approach the problem of the origin of life it is therefore reasonable to start from the assumption that both metabolism and genetics had a common origin, shared a common chemical frame, were embedded in physical-chemical conditions favourable for the onset of both.The most abundant three-atoms organic compound in interstellar environment is hydrogen cyanide HCN, the most abundant three-atoms inorganic compound is water H 2 O. The combination of the two results in the formation of formamide H 2 NCOH. We have explored the chemistry of formamide in conditions compatible with the synthesis and the stability of compounds of potential pre-genetic and pre-metabolic interest. We discuss evidence showing (i) that all the compounds necessary for the build-up of nucleic acids are easily obtained abiotically, (ii) that essentially all the steps leading to the spontaneous generation of RNA are abiotically possible, (iii) that the key compounds of extant metabolic cycles are obtained in the same chemical frame, often in the same test tube.How close are these observations to a plausible scenario for the origin of life?

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“…2 and Scheme 1 pathway "C") [74]. Uracil was probably produced by deamination of cytosine through a catalysis due to the known acidic character of montmorillonites [75].…”

Section: Syntheses Of Nucleic Bases From Formamidementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Syntheses Of Nucleic Bases From Formamidementioning

confidence: 99%

Formamide and the origin of life

Saladino

Crestini

Pino

et al. 2012

Physics of Life Reviews

Self Cite

243

234

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“…Sugars. The presence of HCOH is further confirmed by the detection of different monosaccharides, including pentoses [ribose (17) and 2′-deoxyribose (18)] and hexoses [glucose (19), 2′-deoxyglucose (20), galactose (21), and mannose (22)]. Inositol (23) and arabitol (24), produced by reduction of monosaccharides, were also observed.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…DNA and RNA components (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21), amino acids (22,23), sugars (24), and carboxylic acids (25,26) have been obtained. Minerals tune the selectivity of these transformations (1,2), the mechanistic pathways for the synthesis of nucleobases requiring pyrimidine (27)(28)(29)(30) or imidazole intermediates (31,32).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Meteorite-catalyzed syntheses of nucleosides and of other prebiotic compounds from formamide under proton irradiation

Saladino

Carota

Botta

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Liquid formamide has been irradiated by high-energy proton beams in the presence of powdered meteorites, and the products of the catalyzed resulting syntheses were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Relative to the controls (no radiation, or no formamide, or no catalyst), an extremely rich, variegate, and prebiotically relevant panel of compounds was observed. The meteorites tested were representative of the four major classes: iron, stony iron, chondrites, and achondrites. The products obtained were amino acids, carboxylic acids, nucleobases, sugars, and, most notably, four nucleosides: cytidine, uridine, adenosine, and thymidine. In accordance with theoretical studies, the detection of HCN oligomers suggests the occurrence of mechanisms based on the generation of radical cyanide species (CN·) for the synthesis of nucleobases. Given that many of the compounds obtained are key components of extant organisms, these observations contribute to outline plausible exogenous high-energy-based prebiotic scenarios and their possible boundary conditions, as discussed.origin of life | formamide | prebiotic syntheses | nucleosides | meteorites H ypothesizing formamide (FA) as parent molecule, we explored its potentiality in synthetic processes when exposed to proton irradiation. The purpose of this analysis is to verify a possible prebiotic scenario consisting of FA, considered here as starting one-carbon atom material, of proton beams mimicking solar energetic particles as energy source, and of meteorites as catalysts. The rationale of this approach is that the results could help in outlining exogenous prebiotic models and their boundaries.FA (NH 2 CHO) is becoming one of the most intensively studied precursors for prebiotic syntheses of compounds potentially relevant for the origin of life (1-4). FA is a ubiquitous molecule in the universe. It has been detected in galactic centers (Sgr A and Sgr B), in star-forming regions of dense molecular clouds, in high-mass young stellar objects, in the interstellar medium and in comets and satellites (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14).With the appropriate mineral as catalyst, different ensembles of intermediates of genetic and metabolic apparatuses are simultaneously synthesized from FA under thermal conditions (i.e., by heating liquid FA between 333 and 453 K at room pressure). DNA and RNA components (15-21), amino acids (22, 23), sugars (24), and carboxylic acids (25, 26) have been obtained. Minerals tune the selectivity of these transformations (1, 2), the mechanistic pathways for the synthesis of nucleobases requiring pyrimidine (27-30) or imidazole intermediates (31,32).Within the solar system, ionizing cosmic radiation is generated by the Sun [solar cosmic rays (SCRs), primarily protons accelerated by flares and coronal mass ejections to energies typically of tens to hundreds megaelectronvolts] and is also formed by particles coming from the deep universe [galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)] (33). The SCRs and GCRs differ in their components and energy spectra, but their overwhelming co...

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“…His hypothesis of a mineral-mediated origin of life has received ample support from both theorists and experimentalists, because it helped to solve some, thus far inaccessible, problems of the RNA-world hypothesis. He assumed that minerals could have favored the very first steps of prebiotic evolution by concentrating reactants on their charged surfaces (Baaske et al 2007;Koonin 2007), by catalyzing chemical reactions (Biondi et al 2007a;Costanzo et al 2007;Ertem and Ferris 1996;Ferris et al 1996;Ricardo et al 2004;Saladino et al 2004) and protecting biologically important molecules from degradation in a chemically hostile environment (Biondi et al 2007b;Gallori et al 2006). Now we may add yet another important item to this, already impressive list of advantages: mineral surfaces can also mediate selection for cooperation through temporarily sustaining local neighborhood structures in replicator assemblages.…”

Section: The Mineral Honeycombmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Origin of Life: Chemical Evolution of a Metabolic System in a Mineral Honeycomb?

et al. 2009

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For the RNA-world hypothesis to be ecologically feasible, selection mechanisms acting on replicator communities need to be invoked and the corresponding scenarios of molecular evolution specified. Complementing our previous models of chemical evolution on mineral surfaces, in which selection was the consequence of the limited mobility of macromolecules attached to the surface, here we offer an alternative realization of prebiotic grouplevel selection: the physical encapsulation of local replicator communities into the pores of the mineral substrate. Based on cellular automaton simulations we argue that the effect of group selection in a mineral honeycomb could have been efficient enough to keep prebiotic ribozymes of different specificities and replication rates coexistent, and their metabolic cooperation protected from extensive molecular parasitism. We suggest that mutants of the mild parasites persistent in the metabolic system can acquire useful functions such as replicase activity or the production of membrane components, thus opening the way for the evolution of the first autonomous protocells on Earth.

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Synthesis and Degradation of Nucleobases and Nucleic Acids by Formamide in the Presence of Montmorillonites

Cited by 87 publications

References 77 publications

Formamide and the origin of life

Formamide and the origin of life

Meteorite-catalyzed syntheses of nucleosides and of other prebiotic compounds from formamide under proton irradiation

The Origin of Life: Chemical Evolution of a Metabolic System in a Mineral Honeycomb?

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