| Project/Area Number |
22K18737
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Medium-sized Section 17:Earth and planetary science and related fields
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| Research Institution | Kyushu University |
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Principal Investigator |
エダラテイ カベー 九州大学, カーボンニュートラル・エネルギー国際研究所, 准教授 (60709608)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-06-30 – 2025-03-31
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| Project Status |
Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥6,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2024: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
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| Keywords | Origin of Life / High-Pressure Torsion / Protein / Amino Acids / RNA |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
This project challenges to shed light on the origin of life by mechanical production of protein and RNA as two essential biomolecules. Since such a mechanical production could possibly happen by meteoroid/asteroid/comet collision in the early earth conditions, the collisions are simulated by high-pressure torsion (HPT) under high pressure, high strain and high temperature. The project focuses on the processing of amino acids and adenosine monophosphate which are the building blocks of RNA and protein.
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
L-glutamic acid, and L-serine, as two amino acids detected in meteorites, were further processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) and examined by ex situ X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and in situ mechanical shear testing. No polymerization, chemical reactions, or phase transformations are detected after HPT, indicating that the stability and presence of these two amino acids in meteorites are quite reasonable. However, some microstructural and mechanical changes like crystal size reduction to the nanometer level, crystal defect formation, lattice expansion by vacancy formation, and shear strength enhancement to the steady state are found. HPT was also applied to adenosine monophosphate as a monomer for the formation of DNA and RNA. The material shows some structural and chemical changes that need to be examined by detailed analyses in FY2024. Such changes are more severe in the presence of water.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
we completed our detailed analysis of three main amino acids and we also could process adenosine monophosphate. It was also possible to establish a mass spectroscopy system in the laboratory which will further enhance the quality of analyses to find a piece of evidence for the formation of polymers by astronomical impacts.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The main focus in FY2024 will be on the analysis of adenosine monophosphate with different characterization methods including ex situ X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and in situ mechanical shear testing. Moreover, a mixture of amino acids will be subjected to high-pressure torsion to find if polymerization can occur. The effect of phosphoric acid and an oxide mineral on the behavior of amino acids will be examined as well.
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