ALBERT

Description: Abstract Jbilet Winselwan is one of the largest CM carbonaceous chondrites available for study. Its light, major, and trace elemental compositions are within the range of other CM chondrites. Chondrules are surrounded by dusty rims and set within a matrix of phyllosilicates, oxides, and sulfides. Calcium‐ and aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs) are present at ≤1 vol% and at least one contains melilite. Jbilet Winselwan is a breccia containing diverse lithologies that experienced varying degrees of aqueous alteration. In most lithologies, the chondrules and CAIs are partially altered and the metal abundance is low (〈1 vol%), consistent with petrologic subtypes 2.7–2.4 on the Rubin et al. () scale. However, chondrules and CAIs in some lithologies are completely altered suggesting more extensive hydration to petrologic subtypes ≤2.3. Following hydration, some lithologies suffered thermal metamorphism at 400–500 °C. Bulk X‐ray diffraction shows that Jbilet Winselwan consists of a highly disordered and/or very fine‐grained phase (73 vol%), which we infer was originally phyllosilicates prior to dehydration during a thermal metamorphic event(s). Some aliquots of Jbilet Winselwan also show significant depletions in volatile elements such as He and Cd. The heating was probably short‐lived and caused by impacts. Jbilet Winselwan samples a mixture of hydrated and dehydrated materials from a primitive water‐rich asteroid. It may therefore be a good analog for the types of materials that will be encountered by the Hayabusa‐2 and OSIRIS‐REx asteroid sample‐return missions.

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉King, A J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1993 Aug 13;261(5123):928-9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17783745" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Seven particles captured by the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector and returned to Earth for laboratory analysis have features consistent with an origin in the contemporary interstellar dust stream. More than 50 spacecraft debris particles were also identified. The interstellar dust candidates are readily distinguished from debris impacts on the basis of elemental composition and/or impact trajectory. The seven candidate interstellar particles are diverse in elemental composition, crystal structure, and size. The presence of crystalline grains and multiple iron-bearing phases, including sulfide, in some particles indicates that individual interstellar particles diverge from any one representative model of interstellar dust inferred from astronomical observations and theory.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Westphal, Andrew J -- Stroud, Rhonda M -- Bechtel, Hans A -- Brenker, Frank E -- Butterworth, Anna L -- Flynn, George J -- Frank, David R -- Gainsforth, Zack -- Hillier, Jon K -- Postberg, Frank -- Simionovici, Alexandre S -- Sterken, Veerle J -- Nittler, Larry R -- Allen, Carlton -- Anderson, David -- Ansari, Asna -- Bajt, Sasa -- Bastien, Ron K -- Bassim, Nabil -- Bridges, John -- Brownlee, Donald E -- Burchell, Mark -- Burghammer, Manfred -- Changela, Hitesh -- Cloetens, Peter -- Davis, Andrew M -- Doll, Ryan -- Floss, Christine -- Grun, Eberhard -- Heck, Philipp R -- Hoppe, Peter -- Hudson, Bruce -- Huth, Joachim -- Kearsley, Anton -- King, Ashley J -- Lai, Barry -- Leitner, Jan -- Lemelle, Laurence -- Leonard, Ariel -- Leroux, Hugues -- Lettieri, Robert -- Marchant, William -- Ogliore, Ryan -- Ong, Wei Jia -- Price, Mark C -- Sandford, Scott A -- Sans Tresseras, Juan-Angel -- Schmitz, Sylvia -- Schoonjans, Tom -- Schreiber, Kate -- Silversmit, Geert -- Sole, Vicente A -- Srama, Ralf -- Stadermann, Frank -- Stephan, Thomas -- Stodolna, Julien -- Sutton, Stephen -- Trieloff, Mario -- Tsou, Peter -- Tyliszczak, Tolek -- Vekemans, Bart -- Vincze, Laszlo -- Von Korff, Joshua -- Wordsworth, Naomi -- Zevin, Daniel -- Zolensky, Michael E -- 30714 Stardust@home dusters -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 15;345(6198):786-91. doi: 10.1126/science.1252496.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. westphal@ssl.berkeley.edu. ; Materials Science and Technology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA. ; Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. ; Geoscience Institute, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany. ; Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. ; State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY, USA. ; Jacobs Technology/ESCG, NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, TX, USA. ; Institut fur Geowissenschaften, University of Heidelberg, Germany. ; Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, Grenoble, France. ; Institut fur Raumfahrtsysteme (IRS), University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. IGEP, TU Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany. Max Planck Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany. International Space Sciences Institute, Bern, Switzerland. ; Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA. ; Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA JSC, Houston, TX, USA. ; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA. ; Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg, Germany. ; Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. ; Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. ; University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK. ; University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium. ; University of New Mexico. ; European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France. ; University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. ; Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA. ; Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany. ; International Space Sciences Institute, Bern, Switzerland. ; Max-Planck-Institut fur Chemie, Mainz, Germany. ; 615 William Street, Apt 405, Midland, Ontario, Canada. ; Natural History Museum, London, UK. ; Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA. ; Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Lyon, France. ; University Lille 1, France. ; University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA. ; NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA. ; IRS, University Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA. ; Wexbury, Farthing Green Lane, Stoke Poges, South Buckinghamshire, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25124433" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Morphinan alkaloids from the opium poppy are used for pain relief. The direction of metabolites to morphinan biosynthesis requires isomerization of (S)- to (R)-reticuline. Characterization of high-reticuline poppy mutants revealed a genetic locus, designated STORR [(S)- to (R)-reticuline] that encodes both cytochrome P450 and oxidoreductase modules, the latter belonging to the aldo-keto reductase family. Metabolite analysis of mutant alleles and heterologous expression demonstrate that the P450 module is responsible for the conversion of (S)-reticuline to 1,2-dehydroreticuline, whereas the oxidoreductase module converts 1,2-dehydroreticuline to (R)-reticuline rather than functioning as a P450 redox partner. Proteomic analysis confirmed that these two modules are contained on a single polypeptide in vivo. This modular assembly implies a selection pressure favoring substrate channeling. The fusion protein STORR may enable microbial-based morphinan production.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Winzer, Thilo -- Kern, Marcelo -- King, Andrew J -- Larson, Tony R -- Teodor, Roxana I -- Donninger, Samantha L -- Li, Yi -- Dowle, Adam A -- Cartwright, Jared -- Bates, Rachel -- Ashford, David -- Thomas, Jerry -- Walker, Carol -- Bowser, Tim A -- Graham, Ian A -- BB/K018809/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 17;349(6245):309-12. doi: 10.1126/science.aab1852. Epub 2015 Jun 25.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK. ; Bioscience Technology Facility, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK. ; GlaxoSmithKline, 1061 Mountain Highway, Post Office Box 168, Boronia, Victoria 3155, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26113639" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Here we present the first culture-independent microbiological and biogeochemical study of the mineral soils from 6000 m above sea level (m.a.s.l.) on some the highest volcanoes in the Atacama region of Argentina and Chile. These soils experience some of the harshest environmental conditions on Earth including daily temperature fluctuations across the freezing point (with an amplitude of up to 70°C) and intense solar radiation. Soil carbon and water levels are among the lowest yet measured for a terrestrial ecosystem and enzyme activity was near or below detection limits for all microbial enzymes measured. The soil microbial communities were among the simplest yet studied in a terrestrial environment and contained novel Bacteria and Fungi and only one Archaeal phylotype. No photosynthetic organisms were detected but several of the dominant bacterial phylotypes are related to organisms involved in carbon monoxide oxidation on other volcanoes (e.g., Pseudonocardia and Ktedonobacter spp.). Focused studies of a gene responsible for carbon monoxide oxidation, the large subunit of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (coxL of CODH), revealed several novel lineages and a broad diversity of coxL genes. Overall our results suggest that a unique microbial community, sustained by diffuse atmospheric and volcanic gases, is barely functioning on these volcanoes, which represent the highest terrestrial ecosystems yet studied.

Description: Abstract Meteorite Hills (MET) 01075 is unique among the CM carbonaceous chondrites in containing the feldspathoid mineral sodalite, and hence it may provide valuable evidence for a nebular or parent body process that has not been previously recorded by this meteorite group. MET 01075 is composed of aqueously altered chondrules and calcium‐ and aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs) in a matrix that is predominantly made of serpentine‐ and tochilinite‐rich particles. The chondrules have been impact flattened and define a foliation petrofabric. Sodalite occurs in a 0.6 mm size CAI that also contains spinel, perovskite, and diopside together with Fe‐rich phyllosilicate and calcite. By analogy with feldspathoid‐bearing CAIs in the CV and CO carbonaceous chondrites, the sodalite is interpreted to have formed by replacement of melilite or anorthite during alkali‐halogen metasomatism in a parent body environment. While it is possible that the CAI was metasomatized in a precursor parent body, then excavated and incorporated into the MET 01075 parent body, in situ metasomatism is the favored model. The brief episode of relatively high temperature water–rock interaction was driven by radiogenic or impact heating, and most of the evidence for metasomatism was erased by subsequent lower temperature aqueous alteration. MET 01075 is very unusual in sampling a CM parent body region that underwent early alkali‐halogen metasomatism and has retained one of its products.

Description: Abstract The highly hydrated, petrologic type 1 CM and CI carbonaceous chondrites likely derived from primitive, water‐rich asteroids, two of which are the targets for JAXA's Hayabusa2 and NASA's OSIRIS‐REx missions. We have collected visible and near‐infrared (VNIR) and mid infrared (MIR) reflectance spectra from well‐characterized CM1/2, CM1, and CI1 chondrites and identified trends related to their mineralogy and degree of secondary processing. The spectral slope between 0.65 and 1.05 μm decreases with increasing total phyllosilicate abundance and increasing magnetite abundance, both of which are associated with more extensive aqueous alteration. Furthermore, features at ~3 μm shift from centers near 2.80 μm in the intermediately altered CM1/2 chondrites to near 2.73 μm in the highly altered CM1 chondrites. The Christiansen features (CF) and the transparency features shift to shorter wavelengths as the phyllosilicate composition of the meteorites becomes more Mg‐rich, which occurs as aqueous alteration proceeds. Spectra also show a feature near 6 μm, which is related to the presence of phyllosilicates, but is not a reliable parameter for estimating the degree of aqueous alteration. The observed trends can be used to estimate the surface mineralogy and the degree of aqueous alteration in remote observations of asteroids. For example, (1) Ceres has a sharp feature near 2.72 μm, which is similar in both position and shape to the same feature in the spectra of the highly altered CM1 MIL 05137, suggesting abundant Mg‐rich phyllosilicates on the surface. Notably, both OSIRIS‐REx and Hayabusa2 have onboard instruments which cover the VNIR and MIR wavelength ranges, so the results presented here will help in corroborating initial results from Bennu and Ryugu.