Meteorite organics in planetary environments: hydrothermal release, surface activity, and microbial utilization

Abstract

Up to 50% of the organics in the Murchison meteorite, possibly including some of the polymer, is released in high temperature and pressure aqueous environments, to 350°C and 250 bar, that simulate submarine volcanic, hydrothermal or impact-induced conditions. Meteorite organics of prebiotic significance, such as nonanoic acid, glycine, and pyrene survive the hydrothermal conditions. The released material is surface active with surface pressures up to 19.8 × 10 −3 N m −1, and exhibits an extended surface tension isotherm which suggests a mixture of amphiphilic components. One component, nonanoic acid, is shown to form vesicles. The materials extracted under mild conditions, at 120°C, are nutrients for the humic acid bacterium Pseudomonas maltophilia and efficient nutrients for the oligotroph Flavobacterium oryzihabitans, demonstrating the capability of micro-organisms to metabolize extraterrestrial organics.