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Photoinduced Phenomena in Nucleic Acids II pp 123–164Cite as

Photosynthesis and Photo-Stability of Nucleic Acids in Prebiotic Extraterrestrial Environments

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Part of the book series: Topics in Current Chemistry ((TOPCURRCHEM,volume 356))

Abstract

Laboratory experiments have shown that the UV photo-irradiation of low-temperature ices of astrophysical interest leads to the formation of organic molecules, including molecules important for biology such as amino acids, quinones, and amphiphiles. When pyrimidine is introduced into these ices, the products of irradiation include the nucleobases uracil, cytosine, and thymine, the informational sub-units of DNA and RNA, as well as some of their isomers. The formation of these compounds, which has been studied both experimentally and theoretically, requires a succession of additions of OH, NH2, and CH3 groups to pyrimidine. Results show that H2O ice plays key roles in the formation of the nucleobases, as an oxidant, as a matrix in which reactions can take place, and as a catalyst that assists proton abstraction from intermediate compounds. As H2O is also the most abundant icy component in most cold astrophysical environments, it probably plays the same roles in space in the formation of biologically relevant compounds. Results also show that although the formation of uracil and cytosine from pyrimidine in ices is fairly straightforward, the formation of thymine is not. This is mostly due to the fact that methylation is a limiting step for its formation, particularly in H2O-rich ices, where methylation must compete with oxidation. The relative inefficiency of the abiotic formation of thymine to that of uracil and cytosine, together with the fact that thymine has not been detected in meteorites, are not inconsistent with the RNA world hypothesis. Indeed, a lack of abiotically produced thymine delivered to the early Earth may have forced the choice for an RNA world, in which only uracil and cytosine are needed, but not thymine.

Chapter 14 for the book PHOTOINDUCED PHENOMENA IN NUCLEIC ACIDS – Mario Barbatti, Antonio C. Borin, Susanne Ullrich (eds.)

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for support from the NASA Origins of Solar Systems, Exobiology, and Astrophysics Research and Analysis, and Astrobiology Programs. Much of the work reported in this chapter also benefited from support of postdoctoral researchers under the NASA Postdoctoral Program. PPB and TJL would like to acknowledge financial support from NASA to investigate the formation and evolution of carbon-based material in the universe. This manuscript benefited from the helpful comments of an anonymous reviewer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Science and Astrobiology Division, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-6, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA

    Scott A. Sandford, Partha P. Bera, Timothy J. Lee, Christopher K. Materese & Michel Nuevo

  2. Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, 596 1st St. W, Sonoma, CA, 95476, USA

    Partha P. Bera

  3. SETI Institute, 189 N. Bernardo Ave., Suite 100, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA

    Michel Nuevo

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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

    Mario Barbatti

  2. Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Antonio Carlos Borin

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

    Susanne Ullrich

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Sandford, S.A., Bera, P.P., Lee, T.J., Materese, C.K., Nuevo, M. (2014). Photosynthesis and Photo-Stability of Nucleic Acids in Prebiotic Extraterrestrial Environments. In: Barbatti, M., Borin, A., Ullrich, S. (eds) Photoinduced Phenomena in Nucleic Acids II. Topics in Current Chemistry, vol 356. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/128_2013_499

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