Catalytic effects of Murchison Material: Prebiotic Synthesis and Degradation of RNA Precursors |
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Authors: | Raffaele Saladino Claudia Crestini Cristina Cossetti Ernesto Di Mauro David Deamer |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Agrobiology and Agrochemistry, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy;(2) Department of Science and Chemical Technologies, University of Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy;(3) Department of Biology and Biotechnology Charles Darwin, University La Sapienza, 00185 Roma, Italy;(4) Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA |
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Abstract: | Mineral components of the Murchison meteorite were investigated in terms of potential catalytic effects on synthetic and hydrolytic
reactions related to ribonucleic acid. We found that the mineral surfaces catalyzed condensation reactions of formamide to
form carboxylic acids, amino acids, nucleobases and sugar precursors. These results suggest that formamide condensation reactions
in the parent bodies of carbonaceous meteorites could give rise to multiple organic compounds thought to be required for the
emergence of life. Previous studies have demonstrated similar catalytic effects for mineral assemblies likely to have been
present in the early Earth environment. The minerals had little or no effect in promoting hydrolysis of RNA (24mer of polyadenylic
acid) at 80°C over a pH range from 4.2 to 9.3. RNA was most stable in the neutral pH range, with a half-life ~5 h, but at
higher and lower pH ranges the half-life decreased to ~1 h. These results suggest that if RNA was somehow incorporated into
a primitive form of RNA-based thermophilic life, either it must be protected from random hydrolytic events, or the rate of
synthesis must exceed the rate of hydrolysis. |
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