Abstract
A SIGNIFICANT portion of prebiotic organic matter on the early Earth may have been introduced by carbonaceous asteroids and comets1. The distribution and stable-isotope composition of individual organic compounds in carbonaceous meteorites, which are thought to be derived from asteroidal parent bodies, may therefore provide important information concerning mechanistic pathways for prebiotic synthesis2 and the composition of organic matter on Earth before living systems developed3. Previous studies11, 12 have shown that meteorite amino acids are enriched in 13C relative to their terrestrial counterparts, but individual species were not distinguished. Here we report the 13C contents of individual amino acids in the Murchison meteorite. The amino acids are enriched in 13C, indicating an extraterrestrial origin. Alanine is not racemic, and the 13C enrichment of its D- and L-enantiomers implies that the excess of the L-enantiomer is indigenous rather than terrestrial contamination, suggesting that optically active materials were present in the early Solar System before life began.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chyba, C. F., Thomas, P. J., Brookshaw, L. & Sagan, C. Science 249, 366–373 (1990).
Yuen, G., Blair, N., Des Marais, D. J., & Chang, S. Nature 307, 252–254 (1984).
National Research Council The Search for Life's Origins (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1990).
Cronin, J. R., Pizzarello, S. & Cruikshank, D. P. in Meteorites and the Early Solar System (eds Kerridge, J. F. & Matthews, M. S.) 819–857 (University of Arizona Press, 1988).
Shock, E. L. & Schulte, M. D. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta (in the press).
Engel, M. H. & Nagy, B. Nature 296, 837–840 (1982).
Engel, M. H. & Nagy, B. Nature 301, 496–497 (1983).
Khare, B. N. et al. Icarus 68, 176–184 (1986).
Pillinger, C. T. Nature 296, 802 (1982).
Schidlowski, M. Nature 333, 313–318 (1988).
Chang, S., Mack, R. & Lennon, K. Lunar planet. Sci. 9, 157–158 (1978).
Epstein, S., Krishnamurthy, R. V., Cronin, J. R., Pizzarello, S. & Yuen, G. U. Nature 326, 477–479 (1987).
Engel, M. H. & Macko, S. A. Analyt. Chem. 56, 2598–2600 (1984).
Engel, M. H. & Macko, S. A. Nature 323, 531–533 (1986).
Serban, A., Engel, M. H. & Macko, S. A. Org. Geochem. 13, 1123–1129 (1988).
Silfer, J. A., Engel, M. H., Macko, S. A. & Jumeau, E. J. Analyt. Chem. (submitted).
Macko, S. A. thesis, Univ. Texas (Austin) (1981).
Cronin, J. R. & Moore, C. B. Science 172, 1327–1329 (1971).
Hare, P. E., St John, P. A. & Engel, M. H. in Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Amino Acids (ed. Barrett, G. C.) 415–425 (Chapman & Hall, London, 1985).
Engel, M. H. & Hare, P. E. in Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Amino Acids (ed. Barrett, G. C.) 462–479 (Chapman & Hall, London, 1985).
Freedman, P. A., Gillyon, E. C. P. & Jumeau, E. J. Am. Lab. 114–119 (June 1988).
Freeman, K. H., Hayes, J. M., Trendel, J-M. & Albrecht, P. Nature 343, 254–256 (1990).
Kennicutt, M. C. II & Brooks, J. M. Org. Geochem. 15, 193–197 (1990).
Kerridge, J. F. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 49, 1707–1714 (1985).
Grady, M. M., Wright, I. P., Swart, P. K. & Pillinger, C. T. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 52, 2855–2866 (1988).
Cronin, J. R. Origins of Life 7, 337–342 (1976).
Jull, A. J. T., Donahue, D. J. & Linick, T. W. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 53, 2095–2100 (1989).
Noyes, H. P., Bonner, W. A. & Tomlin, J. A. Origins of Life 8, 21–23 (1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Engel, M., Macko, S. & Silfer, J. Carbon isotope composition of individual amino acids in the Murchison meteorite. Nature 348, 47–49 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/348047a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/348047a0
This article is cited by
-
A new insight into isotopic fractionation associated with decarboxylation in organisms: implications for amino acid isotope approaches in biogeoscience
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2020)
-
Hemiaminal route for the formation of interstellar glycine: a computational study
Journal of Molecular Modeling (2019)
-
Amino acid compositions in heated carbonaceous chondrites and their compound-specific nitrogen isotopic ratios
Earth, Planets and Space (2016)
-
Monomer Abundance Distribution Patterns as a Universal Biosignature: Examples from Terrestrial and Digital Life
Journal of Molecular Evolution (2011)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.