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Stability of non-proteinogenic amino acids to UV and gamma irradiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2018

Laura Rowe ,
Julie Peller ,
Claire Mammoser ,
Kelly Davidson ,
Amy Gunter ,
Bayland Brown  and
Shilpa Dhar
Laura Rowe*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Valparaiso University, 1710 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA
Julie Peller
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Valparaiso University, 1710 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA Radiation Laboratory, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
Claire Mammoser
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Valparaiso University, 1710 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA
Kelly Davidson
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Valparaiso University, 1710 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA Ivy Tech Community College, 3100 Ivy Tech Drive, Valparaiso, IN, 46324, USA
Amy Gunter
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Valparaiso University, 1710 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA
Bayland Brown
Affiliation:
Ivy Tech Community College, 3100 Ivy Tech Drive, Valparaiso, IN, 46324, USA
Shilpa Dhar
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Valparaiso University, 1710 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Laura Rowe, E-mail: laura.rowe@valpo.edu
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Abstract

Almost all living organisms on Earth utilize the same 20 amino acids to build their millions of different proteins, even though there are hundreds of amino acids naturally occurring on Earth. Although it is likely that both the prebiotic and the current environment of Earth shaped the selection of these 20 proteinogenic amino acids, environmental conditions on extraterrestrial planets and moons are known to be quite different than those on Earth. In particular, the surfaces of planets and moons such as Mars, Europa and Enceladus have a much greater flux of UV and gamma radiation impacting their surface than that of Earth. Thus, if life were to have evolved extraterrestrially, a different lexicon of amino acids may have been selected due to different environmental pressures, such as higher radiation exposure. One fundamental property an amino acid must have in order to be of use to the evolution of life is relative stability. Therefore, we studied the stability of three different proteinogenic amino acids (tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan) as compared with 20 non-proteinogenic amino acids that were structurally similar to the aromatic proteinogenic amino acids, following ultraviolet (UV) light (254, 302, or 365 nm) and gamma-ray irradiation. The degree of degradation of the amino acids was quantified using an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS). The result showed that many non-proteinogenic amino acids had either equal or increased stability to certain radiation wavelengths as compared with their proteinogenic counterparts, with fluorinated phenylalanine and tryptophan derivatives, in particular, exhibiting enhanced stability as compared with proteinogenic phenylalanine and tryptophan amino acids following gamma and select UV irradiation.

Keywords

Astrobiologyexobiologygamma radiation stabilitynon-proteinogenic amino acidsunnatural amino acidsUV stability
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 18 , Issue 5 , October 2019 , pp. 426 - 435
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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