Abstract
The photo-stability of simulated free and bound amino acids exposed to photon sources of 1.2–1.3 MeV γ-rays from a 60C° source and ultra-violet (UV) irradiation from a 10 eV deuterium lamp was examined. The free amino acids in aqueous solution were drastically decreased while the bound amino acids in aqueous solution were slightly decreased with the duration of γ-rays and UV irradiation. The apparent half-lives (t1/2) of bound serine and threonine under γ-rays irradiation were more than 10.6 and 27.9 times as stable as the free amino acids, respectively. The photo-stability of bound amino acids was greater than that of free amino acids under irradiation by high-energy photons. These results strongly suggest that bound, but not free, amino acids could be found in extraterrestrial environments. Radio- or photo-alteration processes are mainly decomposition pathways, with the production of secondary amino acids via decomposition of the α-carboxylic group; β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acids, α-decarboxylation products of aspartic acid and glutamic acid, respectively, were detected.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersson, E., B. R. T. Simoneit, and N. G. Holm, Amino acid abundance and stereochemistry in hydrothermally altered sediments from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, northeastern Pacific Ocean, Appl. Geochem., 15, 1169–1190, 2000.
Bernstein, M. P., J. P. Dworkin, S. A. Sandford, G. W. Cooper, and L. J. Allamandora, Racemic amino acids from the ultraviolet photolysis of interstellar ice analogues, Nature, 416, 401–403, 2002.
Briggs, R., G. Ertem, J. P. Ferris, J. M. Greenberg, P. J. Mcain, C. X. Mendoza-Gomes, and W. Shutte, Comet Halley as an aggregate of interstellar dust and further evidence for the photochemical formation of organics in the interstellar medium, Origins Life Evol. Biosphere, 22, 287–307, 1992.
Cowie, G. L. and J. I. Hedges, Biochemical indicators of diagenetic alteration in natural organic matter mixtures, Nature, 369, 304–307, 1994.
Cottin, H., M. C. Gazeau, and F. Raulin, Cometary organic chemistry: a review from observations, numerical and experimental simulations, Planet. Space Sci., 47, 1141–1162 1999.
Cronin, J. R., S. Pizzarello, and D. P. Cruikshank, „Meteorites and the Early Solar System”, edited by J. F. Kerridge and M. S. Matthews, The University of Arizona Press (1988), pp. 819–857.
Cronin, J. R. and S. Pizzarello, Enantiomeric excesses of meteoritic amino acids, Science, 275, 951–955, 1997.
Ehrenfreund, P. and S. B. Charnley, Organic molecules in the interstellar medium, comets, and meteorite: A voyage from dark clouds to the early Earth, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys, 38, 427–483, 2000.
Ehrenfreund, P., M. P. Bernstein, J. P. Dworkin, S. A. Sandford, and L. J. Allamandola, The photostability of amino acids in space, Astrophys. J. Lett., 550, L95–L99, 2001.
Ikeda, H. and A. Suzuki, Radiolysis of n-dodecane and its physical property change based on the dose in one pass through a reference HA column, J. Nuclear Sci. Tech., 35, 697–704, 1998.
Kasamatsu, T., T. Kaneko, T. Saito, and K. Kobayashi, Formation of organic compounds in simulated interstellar media with high-energy particles, Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 70, 1021–1026, 1997.
Kobayashi, K. and T. Tsuji, Abiotic synthesis of uracil from carbon monoxide, nitrogen and water by proton irradiation, Chem. Lett., 903–904, 1997.
Kobayashi, K., T. Kasamatsu, T. Kaneko, J. Koike, T. Oshima, T. Saito, T. Yamamoto, and H. Yanagawa, Formation of amino acid precursors in cometary ice environments by cosmic radiation, Adv. Space Res., 16, 21–26, 1995.
Kobayashi, K., T. Kaneko, T. Saito, and T. Oshima, Amino acids formation in gas mixtures by high-energy particle irradiation, Origins Life Evol. Biosphere, 28, 155–165, 1998.
Kobayashi, K., H. Masuda, K. Ushio, A. Ohashi, H. Yamanashi, T. Kaneko, J. Takahashi, T. Hosokawa, H. Hashimoto, and T. Saito, Formation of bioorganic compounds in simulated planetary atmospheres by high energy particles or photon, Adv. Space Res., 27, 207–215, 2001.
Kobayashi, K., Y. Takano, H. Masuda, H. Tonishi, T. Kaneko, H. Hashimoto, and T. Saito, Possible cometary organic compounds as sources of planetary biospheres, Adv. Space. Res., 33, 1277–1281, 2004.
Kuan, Y.-J., S. B. Charnley, H. Hui-Chun, T. Wei-Ling, and K. Zbigniew, Interstellar glycine, Astrophys. J., 593, 848–867, 2003.
Kuan, Y.-J., S. B. Charnley, H. Hui-Chun, T. Wei-Ling, K. Zbigniew, P. Ehrenfreund, T. Wei-Ling, and Y. Chi-Hung, Searches for interstellar molecules of potential prebiotic importance, Adv. Space Res., 33, 31–39, 2004.
Miller, S. L, The production of amino acids under possible primitive earth conditions, Science, 117, 528–531, 1953.
Miyakawa, S., H. Yamanashi, K. Kobayashi, H. J. Cleaves, and S. L. Miller, Prebiotic synthesis from CO atmospheres: Implications for the origins of life, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 99, 14628–14631, 2002.
Munoz Caro, G. M., U. J. Meierhenrich, W. A. Schutte, B. Barbier, A. A. Segavia, H. Rosenbauer, W. H. P. Thiemann, A. Brack, and J. M. Greenberg, Nature, 416, 403–405, 2002.
Ohishi, M., Disscussion on the relationship between interstellar matter and molecules for origin of life, Viva Origino, 28, 175–190, 2000.
Pizzarello, S. and J. R. Cronin, Non-racemic amino acids in the Murray and Murchison meteorites, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 64, 329–338, 2000.
Ratcliff, M. A., E. E. Medeley, and P. G. Simmonds, Pyrolysis of amino acids. mechanistic considerations, J. Org. Chem., 39, 1481–1490, 1974.
Synder, L. E., The search for interstellar glycine, Origins Life Evol. Biosphere, 27, 115–133, 1997.
Takano, Y., K. Ushio, H. Masuda, T. Kaneko, K. Kobayashi, J. Takahashi, and T. Saito, Determination of organic compounds formed in simulated interstellar dust environment, Anal. Sci., 17, 1635–1648, 2001.
Takano, Y., H. Masuda, T. Kaneko, and K. Kobayashi, Formation of amino acids from possible interstellar media by γ-rays and UV irradiation, Chem. Lett., 10, 986–987, 2002.
Takano, Y., K. Ushio, T. Kaneko, K. Kobayashi, and H. Hashimoto, Amino acid precursors from carbon monoxide in simulated interstellar dust ice mantle by UV irradiation at 10 K, Chem. Lett., 2, 612–613, 2003.
Takano, Y., J. Kudo, T. Kaneko, K. Kobayashi, Y. Kawasaki, and Y. Ishikawa, Distribution of amino acids and its stereo chemistry related with biological activities in Rikubetsu, Hokkaido, Japan. Geochem. J., 38, 153–161, 2004a.
Takano, Y., T. Kaneko, K. Kobayashi, and K. Marumo, Correlation coefficients between biomarkers and sub-surface microbial activities in terrestrial sediment over the past 10,000 years, Bunseki Kagaku, 53, 167–172, 2004b (in Japanese with English abstract).
Takano, Y., A. Ohashi, T. Kaneko, and K. Kobayashi, Abiotic synthesis of high-molecular-weight organics containing amino acid precursors from inorganic gas mixture of carbon monoxide, ammonia and water by 3 MeV proton irradiation, Appl. Phys. Lett., 84, 1410–1412, 2004c.
Takano, Y., T. Tsuboi, T. Kaneko, K. Kobayashi, and K. Marumo, Pyrolysis of high-molecular-weight complex organics synthesized from simulated interstellar gas mixture irradiated with 3 MeV proton irradiation, Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 77, 779–783, 2004d.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Takano, Y., Kaneko, T., Kobayashi, K. et al. Experimental verification of photostability for free- and bound-amino acids exposed to γ-rays and UV irradiation. Earth Planet Sp 56, 669–674 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352529
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352529