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Isolation of Purines and Pyrimidines from the Murchison Meteorite Using SublimationThe origin of life on Earth, and possibly on other planets such as Mars, would have required the presence of liquid water and a continuous supply of prebiotic organic compounds. The exogenous delivery of organic matter by asteroids, comets, and carbonaceous meteorites could have contributed to the early Earth s prebiotic inventory by seeding the planet with biologically important organic compounds. A wide variety of prebiotic organic compounds have previously been detected in the Murchison CM type carbonaceous chondrite including amino acids, purines and pyrimidines. These compounds dominate terrestrial biochemistry and are integral components of proteins, DNA and RNA. Several purines including adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine, and xanthine, as well as the pyrimidine uracil, have previously been detected in water or formic acid extracts of Murchison using ion-exclusion chromatography and ultraviolet spectroscopy. However, even after purification of these extracts, the accurate identification and quantification of nucleobases is difficult due to interfering UV absorbing compounds. In order to reduce these effects, we have developed an extraction technique using sublimation to isolate purines and pyrimidines from other non-volatile organic compounds in Murchison acid extracts.
Document ID
20040065938
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Glavin, D. P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Bada, J. L.
(Scripps Institution of Oceanography La Jolla, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Astrobiology Stew: Pinch of Microbes, Smidgen of UV, Touch of Organics, and Dash of Meteorites
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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