caa a22 4500 445821213 CHVBK 20180317145244.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00239-011-9429-4 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00239-011-9429-4 Monomer Abundance Distribution Patterns as a Universal Biosignature: Examples from Terrestrial and Digital Life [Elektronische Daten] [Evan Dorn, Kenneth Nealson, Christoph Adami] Organisms leave a distinctive chemical signature in their environment because they synthesize those molecules that maximize their fitness. As a result, the relative concentrations of related chemical monomers in life-bearing environmental samples reflect, in part, those compounds' adaptive utility. In contrast, rates of molecular synthesis in a lifeless environment are dictated by reaction kinetics and thermodynamics, so concentrations of related monomers in abiotic samples tend to exhibit specific patterns dominated by small, easily formed, low-formation-energy molecules. We contend that this distinction can serve as a universal biosignature: the measurement of chemical concentration ratios that belie formation kinetics or equilibrium thermodynamics indicates the likely presence of life. We explore the features of this biosignature as observed in amino acids and carboxylic acids, using published data from numerous studies of terrestrial sediments, abiotic (spark, UV, and high-energy proton) synthesis experiments, and meteorite bodies. We then compare these data to the results of experimental studies of an evolving digital life system. We observe the robust and repeatable evolution of an analogous biosignature in a digital lifeform, suggesting that evolutionary selection necessarily constrains organism composition and that the monomer abundance biosignature phenomenon is universal to evolved biosystems. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2011 Artificial life nationallicence Amino acids nationallicence Carboxylic acids nationallicence Astrobiology nationallicence Exobiology nationallicence Evolution nationallicence Meteorites nationallicence Dorn Evan Digital Life Laboratory 136-93, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA aut Nealson Kenneth Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut Adami Christoph Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science, 91711, Claremont, CA, USA aut Journal of Molecular Evolution Springer-Verlag 72/3(2011-03-01), 283-295 0022-2844 72:3<283 2011 72 239 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-011-9429-4 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-011-9429-4 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dorn Evan Digital Life Laboratory 136-93, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Nealson Kenneth Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Adami Christoph Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science, 91711, Claremont, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Molecular Evolution Springer-Verlag 72/3(2011-03-01), 283-295 0022-2844 72:3<283 2011 72 239 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer