Fossil and present-day stromatolite ooids contain a meteoritic polymer of glycine and iron

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: McGeoch, Julie E M, Frommelt, Anton J, Owen, Robin L, Cinque, Gianfelice, McClelland, Arthur, Lageson, David, McGeoch, Malcolm W
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author McGeoch, Julie E M
Frommelt, Anton J
Owen, Robin L
Cinque, Gianfelice
McClelland, Arthur
Lageson, David
McGeoch, Malcolm W
author_facet McGeoch, Julie E M
Frommelt, Anton J
Owen, Robin L
Cinque, Gianfelice
McClelland, Arthur
Lageson, David
McGeoch, Malcolm W
contents Hemoglycin, a space polymer of glycine and iron, has been identified in the carbonaceous chondritic meteorites Allende, Acfer 086, Kaba, Sutters Mill and Orgueil. Its core form has a mass of 1494Da and is basically an antiparallel pair of polyglycine strands linked at each end by an iron atom. The polymer forms two- and three- dimensional lattices with an inter-vertex distance of 4.9nm. Here the extraction technique for meteorites is applied to a 2.1Gya fossil stromatolite to reveal the presence of hemoglycin by mass spectrometry. Intact ooids from a recent (3,000Ya) stromatolite exhibited the same visible hemoglycin fluorescence in response to x-rays as an intact crystal from the Orgueil meteorite. X-ray analysis confirmed the existence in ooids of an internal 3-dimensional lattice of 4.9nm inter-vertex spacing, matching the spacing of lattices in meteoritic crystals. FTIR measurements of acid-treated ooid and a Sutters Mill meteoritic crystal both show the presence, via the splitting of the Amide I band, of an extended anti-parallel beta sheet structure. It seems probable that the copious in-fall of carbonaceous meteoritic material, from Archaean times onward, has left traces of hemoglycin in sedimentary carbonates and potentially has influenced ooid formation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_17195
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fossil and present-day stromatolite ooids contain a meteoritic polymer of glycine and iron
McGeoch, Julie E M
Frommelt, Anton J
Owen, Robin L
Cinque, Gianfelice
McClelland, Arthur
Lageson, David
McGeoch, Malcolm W
Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Biomolecules
Hemoglycin, a space polymer of glycine and iron, has been identified in the carbonaceous chondritic meteorites Allende, Acfer 086, Kaba, Sutters Mill and Orgueil. Its core form has a mass of 1494Da and is basically an antiparallel pair of polyglycine strands linked at each end by an iron atom. The polymer forms two- and three- dimensional lattices with an inter-vertex distance of 4.9nm. Here the extraction technique for meteorites is applied to a 2.1Gya fossil stromatolite to reveal the presence of hemoglycin by mass spectrometry. Intact ooids from a recent (3,000Ya) stromatolite exhibited the same visible hemoglycin fluorescence in response to x-rays as an intact crystal from the Orgueil meteorite. X-ray analysis confirmed the existence in ooids of an internal 3-dimensional lattice of 4.9nm inter-vertex spacing, matching the spacing of lattices in meteoritic crystals. FTIR measurements of acid-treated ooid and a Sutters Mill meteoritic crystal both show the presence, via the splitting of the Amide I band, of an extended anti-parallel beta sheet structure. It seems probable that the copious in-fall of carbonaceous meteoritic material, from Archaean times onward, has left traces of hemoglycin in sedimentary carbonates and potentially has influenced ooid formation.
title Fossil and present-day stromatolite ooids contain a meteoritic polymer of glycine and iron
topic Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Biomolecules
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.17195