Detection and formation scenario of citric acid, pyruvic acid, and other possible metabolism precursors in carbonaceous meteorites.

ABSTRACT: Carbonaceous meteorites deliver a variety of organic compounds to Earth that may have played a role in the origin and/or evolution of biochemical pathways. Some apparently ancient and critical metabolic processes require several compounds, some of which are relatively labile such as keto acids. Therefore, a prebiotic setting for any such individual process would have required either a continuous distant source for the entire suite of intact precursor molecules and/or an energetic and compact local synthesis, particularly of the more fragile members. To date, compounds such as pyruvic acid, oxaloacetic acid, citric acid, isocitric acid, and α-ketoglutaric acid (all members of the citric acid cycle) have not been identified in extraterrestrial sources or, as a group, as part of a "one pot" s

SUBMITTER: Cooper G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3161584 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature