Cometary Glycolaldehyde as a Source of pre-RNA Molecules.
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In this article, the authors show that up to 1023 kg of cometary GLA could have survived impact delivery, with substantial amounts of threose, erythrose, glycolic acid, and ethylene glycol also produced or delivered.Abstract:
Over 200 molecules have been detected in multiple extraterrestrial environments, including glycolaldehyde (C2(H2O)2, GLA), a two-carbon sugar precursor that has been detected in regions of the interstellar medium. Its recent in situ detection on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and through remote observations in the comae of others provides tantalizing evidence that it is common on most (if not all) comets. Impact experiments conducted at the Experimental Impact Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center have shown that samples of GLA and GLA mixed with montmorillonite clays can survive impact delivery in the pressure range of 4.5 to 25 GPa. Extrapolated to amounts of GLA observed on individual comets and assuming a monotonic impact rate in the first billion years of Solar System history, these experimental results show that up to 1023 kg of cometary GLA could have survived impact delivery, with substantial amounts of threose, erythrose, glycolic acid, and ethylene glycol also produced or delivered. Importantly, independent of the profile of the impact flux in the early Solar System, comet delivery of GLA would have provided (and may continue to provide) a reservoir of starting material for the formose reaction (to form ribose) and the Strecker reaction (to form amino acids). Thus, comets may have been important delivery vehicles for starting molecules necessary for life as we know it.read more
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Molecular Precursors of the RNA-World in Space: New Nitriles in the G+0.693−0.027 Molecular Cloud
Victor M. Rivilla,Izaskun Jiménez-Serra,J. Martin-Pintado,L. Colzi,Belén Tercero,P. de Vicente,Shaoshan Zeng,S. Mart'in,Juan García de la Concepción,Luca Bizzocchi,Mattia Melosso,Fernando Rico-Villas,M. A. Requena-Torres +12 more
TL;DR: In this article , the authors reported the detection towards the molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027 of several nitriles, including cyanic acid (HOCN), and three C4H3N isomers (cyanoallene, CH2CCHCN; propargyl cyanide, HCCCH2CN; and cyanopropyne (CH3CCCN).
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The prokaryotic community in an extreme Antarctic environment: the brines of Boulder Clay lakes (Northern Victoria Land)
Maurizio Azzaro,G. Maimone,Rosabruna La Ferla,Alessandro Cosenza,Alessandro Ciro Rappazzo,Gabriella Caruso,Rodolfo Paranhos,Anderson S. Cabral,Emanuele Forte,Mauro Guglielmin +9 more
TL;DR: In this paper, three hypersaline brines were discovered in two frozen lakes of Boulder Clay (Northern Victoria Valley, Antarctica) and the abundance of prokaryotic cells (including cell morphologies and size for biomass conversion), the amount of viable cells (in terms of membrane-intact cells and respiring cells), the viral count, the physiological profiles at community level and the main microbial enzymatic activities were described.
Journal ArticleDOI
Prebiotic Pathway from Ribose to RNA Formation
TL;DR: The missing link between the prebiotic synthesis of ribose and pre-biotic RNA (preRNA) was identified in this paper, where hydrogen cyanide (HCN) was assumed to have been the principal precursor in the pre-RNA formation of aldopentoses in the formose reaction and in the synthesis of Ribose.
Journal ArticleDOI
On the Origin of Sugar Handedness: Facts, Hypotheses and Missing Links-A Review
TL;DR: The past and current understanding of sugar chirality in the context of prebiotic chemistry is revisited, with attention to recent developments and insights.
Journal ArticleDOI
Spectroscopic Characterization of 3-Aminoisoxazole, a Prebiotic Precursor of Ribonucleotides
Alessio Melli,Mattia Melosso,Kevin G. Lengsfeld,Luca Bizzocchi,Victor M. Rivilla,Luca Dore,Vincenzo Barone,Jens-Uwe Grabow,Cristina Puzzarini +8 more
TL;DR: In this article , the rotational spectrum of 3-aminoisoxazole was analyzed in the 6-24 GHz and 80-320 GHz frequency ranges for the first time, exploiting a Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer and a frequency-modulated millimeter/sub-millimeter spectrometers, respectively.
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TL;DR: The Stardust spacecraft collected thousands of particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 and returned them to Earth for laboratory study, and preliminary examination shows that the nonvolatile portion of the comet is an unequilibrated assortment of materials that have both presolar and solar system origin.
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