Dipeptides and diketopiperazines in the Yamato-791198 and Murchison carbonaceous chondrites.
The Yamato-791198 and Murchison carbonaceous chondrites were analyzed for dipeptides and diketopiperazines as well as amino acids and hydantoins by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry. Glycylglycine (gly-gly) and cyclo(gly-gly) were detected at the concentrations of 11 and 18 pmol g-1, respectively, in Yamato-791198, and 4 and 23 pmol g-1, respectively, in Murchison. No other dipeptide and diketopiperazine were detected. Five hydantoins were detected at 8 to 65 pmol g-1 in Yamato-791198 and seven in Murchison at 6 to 104 pmol g-1. Total concentration of the glycine (gly) dimers is approximately four orders of magnitude less than the concentration of free gly in Yamato-791198, and three orders of magnitude less than that in Murchison. The absence of L- and LL-stereoisomers of dipeptides consisting of protein amino acids indicates that gly-gly and cyclo(gly-gly) detected are native to the chondries and not from terrestrial contaminants. A possibility was discussed that the gly dimers might have been formed by condensation of gly monomers but not formed through N-carboxyanhydrides of gly.
Department of Chemistry, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8571, Japan.
Akira
A
Shimoyama
Ryo
R
Ogasawara
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000032:analysis*; D006827:Hydantoins / Q000032:analysis; D007564:Japan; D019110:Meteoroids; D010879:Piperazines / Q000032:analysis*
D000596:Amino Acids; D004151:Dipeptides; D006827:Hydantoins; D010879:Piperazines