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Valine

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 193 Accesses

Definition

Valine is one of the 20 protein amino acids. Its chemical structure is (CH3)2CHCH(NH2)COOH. Its three-letter symbol is Val, and its one-letter symbol is V. Its molecular formula is C5H11NO2 which translates into a molecular weight of 117.15. Its isoelectric point is 5.96. Valine’s side chain is a simple hydrocarbon and is thus considered to be an apolar amino acid. Among the protein amino acids, alanine (C3H7NO2), leucine, and isoleucine (both C6H13NO2) are in the same group, but strangely, none of the isomers with four carbons (C4H9NO2) are protein amino acids. Valine has 11 nonprotein amino acid isomers, including norvaline and isovaline. All of them have been identified in the extract from Murchison meteorite. Valine is a hydrophobic amino acid and has often been used to make thermal microspheres from amino acids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yokohama National University, 240-8501, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Japan

    Kensei Kobayashi

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  1. Kensei Kobayashi
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Correspondence to Kensei Kobayashi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kobayashi, K. (2014). Valine. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1642-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1642-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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