Formation of nucleobases in a Miller–Urey reducing atmosphere

0473903 - ÚFCH JH 2018 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Ferus, Martin - Pietrucci, F. - Saitta, A. M. - Knížek, Antonín - Kubelík, Petr - Ivanek, Ondřej - Shestivska, Violetta - Civiš, Svatopluk
Formation of nucleobases in a Miller–Urey reducing atmosphere.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Roč. 114, č. 17 (2017), s. 4306-4311. ISSN 0027-8424. E-ISSN 1091-6490
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LG15013; GA ČR(CZ) GA14-12010S; GA MŠMT(CZ) LM2015083; GA MŠMT(CZ) 7AMB16FR035
Institutional support: RVO:61388955
Keywords : origin of life * asteroid impact * reducing atmosphere
OECD category: Physical chemistry
Impact factor: 9.504, year: 2017
Method of publishing: Open access

The Miller–Urey experiments pioneered modern research on the molecular origins of life, but their actual relevance in this field was later questioned because the gas mixture used in their research is considered too reducing with respect to the most accepted hypotheses for the conditions on primordial Earth. In particular, the production of only amino acids has been taken as evidence of the limited relevance of the results. Here, we report an experimental work, combined with state-of-the-art computational methods, in which both electric discharge and laser-driven plasma impact simulations were carried out in a reducing atmosphere containing NH3 + CO. We show that RNA nucleobases are synthesized in these experiments, strongly supporting the possibility of the emergence of biologically relevant molecules in a reducing atmosphere. The reconstructed synthetic pathways indicate that small radicals and formamide play a crucial role, in agreement with a number of recent experimental and theoretical results.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0271014