Prebiotic synthesis of methionine and other sulfur-containing organic compounds on the primitive Earth: a contemporary reassessment based on an unpublished 1958 Stanley Miller experiment.
Original extracts from an unpublished 1958 experiment conducted by the late Stanley L. Miller were recently found and analyzed using modern state-of-the-art analytical methods. The extracts were produced by the action of an electric discharge on a mixture of methane (CH(4)), hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S), ammonia (NH(3)), and carbon dioxide (CO(2)). Racemic methionine was formed in significant yields, together with other sulfur-bearing organic compounds. The formation of methionine and other compounds from a model prebiotic atmosphere that contained H(2)S suggests that this type of synthesis is robust under reducing conditions, which may have existed either in the global primitive atmosphere or in localized volcanic environments on the early Earth. The presence of a wide array of sulfur-containing organic compounds produced by the decomposition of methionine and cysteine indicates that in addition to abiotic synthetic processes, degradation of organic compounds on the primordial Earth could have been important in diversifying the inventory of molecules of biochemical significance not readily formed from other abiotic reactions, or derived from extraterrestrial delivery.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Eric T
ET
Parker
H James
HJ
Cleaves
Michael P
MP
Callahan
Jason P
JP
Dworkin
Daniel P
DP
Glavin
Antonio
A
Lazcano
Jeffrey L
JL
Bada
D000641:Ammonia / Q000737:chemistry; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003543:Cysteamine / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D003545:Cysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D004560:Electricity; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000737:chemistry; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry; D008715:Methionine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D013457:Sulfur Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
D013457:Sulfur Compounds; D006710:Homocysteine; C007956:homocysteic acid; C018332:methionine sulfone; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D003543:Cysteamine; D000641:Ammonia; C008425:S-methylcysteine; D008715:Methionine; D003545:Cysteine; D008697:Methane; C013111:methionine sulfoxide; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide