Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life.

Surendra V Singh,Vijayan Sivaprahasam,Kalidevapura P J Reddy,Ambresh Mallya,Jaya K Meka,Anil Bhardwaj,Hugh Hill,Akshay Datey,Mariyappan Muruganantham,Nigel J Mason,Balabhadrapatruni N Rajasekhar,Jayaram Vishakantaiah,Gopalan Jagadeesh,Vijayanand Chandrasekaran,Vijay Thiruvenkatam,Bhalamurugan Sivaraman,Rebecca Thombre

doi:10.3390/molecules25235634

Abstract

The building blocks of life, amino acids, are believed to have been synthesized in the extreme conditions that prevail in space, starting from simple molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. However, the fate and role of amino acids when they are subjected to similar processes largely remain unexplored. Here we report, for the first time, that shock processed amino acids tend to form complex agglomerate structures. Such structures are formed on timescales of about 2 ms due to impact induced shock heating and subsequent cooling. This discovery suggests that the building blocks of life could have self-assembled not just on Earth but on other planetary bodies as a result of impact events. Our study also provides further experimental evidence for the ‘threads’ observed in meteorites being due to assemblages of (bio)molecules arising from impact-induced shocks.

Highlights

IntroductionThe origin and evolution of life on Earth is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science
The origin and evolution of life on Earth is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science.It is still unclear if life originated in “Darwin’s pool”, a hydrothermal vent, the ocean, a tidal pool or elsewhere in the solar system [1]
113B22, PCB Piezotronics, USA) work surface at three the formation of more complex structures which are closer to biological architectures, not different locations on the driven section, used to obtain a pressure signal, are recorded with the only help in of structural digital resemblance in

Summary

Introduction

The origin and evolution of life on Earth is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science. It is still unclear if life originated in “Darwin’s pool”, a hydrothermal vent, the ocean, a tidal pool or elsewhere in the solar system [1]. The step in evolution is proposed to be the formation of self-assembling complex organic molecules and polymers from simple amino acids [5]. The formation of peptides from amino acids is one of the crucial steps in the origin of life as peptides can form self-assembling molecular structures and interact with other classes of biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, lipids, etc. The formation of peptides from amino acids is one of the crucial steps in the origin of life as peptides can form self-assembling molecular structures and interact with other classes of biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, lipids, etc. and enhance their structure and function [6]

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