Metabolomics As an Emerging Tool in the Search for Astrobiologically Relevant Biomarkers

It is now routinely possible to sequence and recover microbial genomes from environmental samples. To the degree it is feasible to assign transcriptional and translational functions to these genomes, it should be possible, in principle, to largely understand the complete molecular inputs and outputs of a microbial community. However, gene-based tools alone are presently insufficient to describe the full suite of chemical reactions and small molecules that compose a living cell. Metabolomic tools have developed quickly and now enable rapid detection and identification of small molecules within biological and environmental samples. The convergence of these technologies will soon facilitate the detection of novel enzymatic activities, novel organisms, and potentially extraterrestrial life-forms on solar system bodies. This review explores the methodological problems and scientific opportunities facing researchers who hope to apply metabolomic methods in astrobiology-related fields, and how present challenges might be overcome

Metabolomics as an emerging tool in the search for astrobiologically relevant biomarkers

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Seyler, L., Kujawinski, E. B., Azua-Bustos, A., Lee, M. D., Marlow, J., Perl, S. M., & Cleaves, H. J. Metabolomics as an emerging tool in the search for astrobiologically relevant biomarkers. Astrobiology, (2020), doi:10.1089/ast.2019.2135.It is now routinely possible to sequence and recover microbial genomes from environmental samples. To the degree it is feasible to assign transcriptional and translational functions to these genomes, it should be possible, in principle, to largely understand the complete molecular inputs and outputs of a microbial community. However, gene-based tools alone are presently insufficient to describe the full suite of chemical reactions and small molecules that compose a living cell. Metabolomic tools have developed quickly and now enable rapid detection and identification of small molecules within biological and environmental samples. The convergence of these technologies will soon facilitate the detection of novel enzymatic activities, novel organisms, and potentially extraterrestrial life-forms on solar system bodies. This review explores the methodological problems and scientific opportunities facing researchers who hope to apply metabolomic methods in astrobiology-related fields, and how present challenges might be overcome.This study was partially supported by the ELSI Origins Network (EON), which is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation. This work was partially supported by a JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Hadean Bioscience,” grant number JP26106003, and also partially supported by Project “icyMARS,” funded by the European Research Council, ERC Starting Grant No. 307496. A.A-B thanks the contribution from the Project “MarsFirstWater,” funded by the European Research Council, ERC Consolidator Grant No. 818602 and the HFSP Project UVEnergy RGY0066/2018

Combined Network and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry Analysis of the Formose Reaction Reveals Mechanisms for Emergent Behaviors

The formose reaction (FR) autocatalytically converts simple plausibly prebiotic feedstocks into molecules of biological interest, including ribose. Autocatalysis is a hallmark of life, thus various studies have explored the formose reaction with respect to the origins of life. The FR is robust under appropriate conditions, occurring readily at low temperatures from various substrates, and has been implicated in the generation of meteoritic organic compounds. We explored the FR here using a combination of in silico modeling techniques and high resolution mass spectrometry. The models match experimental results well, and point to the FR being much more complex than previously modeled or measured, and help explain the FR’s potential to generate homochirality and primitive compartments, both of which are also hallmarks of life, before the emergence of the complex directed molecular encoding suggested by the RNA World model. These results suggest the FR requires further study with regard to the origins of life, and its importance may lie in the way it enables and coordinates emergent chemistries, rather than the particular products it generates, such as ribose