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Cited by 187Origins and Evolution of LifeAstro and Planetary ScienceSpace Science and Extraterrestrial Life

Meteoritic Amino Acids: Diversity in Compositions Reflects Parent Body Histories

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Elsila, Jamie E., Aponte, José C., Blackmond, Donna G., Burton, Aaron S., Dworkin, Jason P., Glavin, Daniel P.·2016·ACS Central Science
DOI 10.1021/acscentsci.6b00074PMC PMC4919777
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Abstract

The analysis of amino acids in meteorites dates back over 50 years; however, it is only in recent years that research has expanded beyond investigations of a narrow set of meteorite groups (exemplified by the Murchison meteorite) into meteorites of other types and classes. These new studies have shown a wide diversity in the abundance and distribution of amino acids across carbonaceous chondrite groups, highlighting the role of parent body processes and composition in the creation, preservation, or alteration of amino acids. Although most chiral amino acids are racemic in meteorites, the enantiomeric distribution of some amino acids, particularly of the nonprotein amino acid isovaline, has also been shown to vary both within certain meteorites and across carbonaceous meteorite groups. Large l-enantiomeric excesses of some extraterrestrial protein amino acids (up to ∼60%) have also been observed in rare cases and point to nonbiological enantiomeric enrichment processes prior to the emergence of life. In this Outlook, we review these recent meteoritic analyses, focusing on variations in abundance, structural distributions, and enantiomeric distributions of amino acids and discussing possible explanations for these observations and the potential for future work.

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  • Chondritic meteorite deposits contain small enantiomeric excesses toward L-amino acids.

    “Evidence of small enantiomeric excesses toward L-amino acids found in chondritic meteorite deposits (Elsila et al. 2016)”

    From The Origin of Biological Homochirality (2019) · cites this paper as Elsila et al. 2016

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Elsila, J. E., Aponte, J. C., Blackmond, D. G., Burton, A. S., Dworkin, J. P., & Glavin, D. P.
Affiliations
  • Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
  • Scripps Research Institute (US)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US)
Corresponding author
Elsila, Jamie E.
ORCID
Venue
ACS Central Science
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Published
2016-04-25
Volume
2
Issue
6
Pages
370-379
ISSN
  • 2374-7943 (ISSN-L)
  • 2374-7951
DOI
10.1021/acscentsci.6b00074
PMC
PMC4919777
OpenAlex
W2343689880
Cited by
187
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 1
FWCI
0.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • ACS Central Science (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Goddard Space Flight Center (13-13NAI7-0032)
  • Simons Foundation (SCOL 287625, SCOL 302497)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
Keywords
meteoritic amino acids, carbonaceous chondrites, enantiomeric excess, isovaline, nonprotein amino acids, racemization, origin of life, Murchison meteorite

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