Searching for Biosignatures as Signs of Life Using GALDI-FTMS
Robust, unequivocal evidence of biosignatures in extraterrestrial and ancient terrestrial materials would have a profound impact on current understanding of the origins of life. In the search for signs of life, it is imperative to target minerals that are most likely to preserve and yield evidence of biological or organic compounds in order to design criteria for remotely operated instrumentation and optimize return sample missions. Laser desorption Fourier transform mass spectrometry (LD-FTMS) has been used to detect various biological and organic compounds associated with different minerals. For natural samples, LD-FTMS requires no sample preparation and offers high sensitivity to acquire spectra with a single laser shot for heterogeneously distributed biosignatures. Some organics compounds (i.e., polyaromatic hydrocarbons) self-ionize and are easily detected, but most biological and organic compounds require ionization assistance. Therefore, we are exploring how well different minerals assist in ionization, a process called geomatrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (GALDI). The effectiveness of GALDI appears to depend not only on the composition of the biological molecule and mineral moiety, but also on how they are associated. We report observations evaluating GALDI using LD-FTMS for laboratory-based and natural mineral samples. These observations have implications for which biological or organic compounds are detectable and persist in the rock record.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-99ID13727
- OSTI ID:
- 936883
- Report Number(s):
- INL/JOU-07-12891
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science, Journal Name: Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 43
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Detecting Biosignatures Associated with Minerals by Geomatrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Fourier Transorm Mass Spectromety (GALDI-FTMS)
Exploring Biosignatures Associated with Thenardite by Geomatrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (GALDI-FTICR-MS)
Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
DESIGN
DESORPTION
HYDROCARBONS
IONIZATION
LASERS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SAMPLE PREPARATION
SENSITIVITY
SPECTRA
TARGETS
amino acids
fourier transform mass spectrometry
jarosite
laser desorption/ablation
proteins
siderophore