Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Stereoselectivity of β irradiation of D,L-tryptophan in aqueous solution

Nature volume 261, pages 522–524 (1976)Cite this article

Abstract

A POSSIBLE connection between the molecular asymmetry of living matter and the intrinsic asymmetry of elementary particles1 was first suggested by Vester2. All the experiments based essentially on the non-conservation of parity in weak interactions3,4 can be classified as follows: (1) It is assumed that L- and D-enantiomers are not exact mirror images of each other but differ in their scalar physicochemical properties5,6. Parity-violating forces originated by weak interactions could in principle give rise to different bond strengths in enantiomer molecules. If the recently discovered neutral weak currents turn out to be of vector and axialvector type—an opinion favoured by present neutrino experiments7–9—there is necessarily an interference between parity-conserving electromagnetic interaction and parity-violating weak interaction; it might, however, be very small23. The question whether a particular molecular quantum state does allow for the actual occurrence of a seizable parity-violating effect has, to our knowledge, not yet been settled. (2) It is supposed that the almost exclusive existence of one enantiomer in the biosphere is due to the asymmetric interaction of longitudinally polarised β rays with molecules (interaction either with racemic mixtures or with molecules undergoing reaction to form asymmetric compounds) during the early history of the earth. With this view it is believed that an induced optical activity is a result of the natural radiation from isotopes in the earth's crust4,10,11. Experiments which aimed to generate optical activity in this manner are summarised in Table 1.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wu, C. S., et al., Phys. Rev., 105, 1413 (1957).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Vester, F., Seminar, Yale Univ., 7 Feb. 1957.

  3. Lee, T. D., and Yang, C. N., Phys. Rev., 104, 254 (1956).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ulbricht, T. L. V., Q. Rev., 13, 48 (1959).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Yamagata, Y., Theor. Biol., 11, 495 (1966).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Thiemann, W., and Wagener, K., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 9, 740 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sehgal, L. M., Nucl. Phys., B65, 141 (1973); Phys. Lett. 48B, 133 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Albright, Ch., Phys. Rev., D8, 3162 (1973).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Glashow, S. L., Proc. Erice Summer Sch 1973.

  10. Ulbricht, T. L. V., in Comparative Biochemistry, IV, Part B (edit. by Florkin, M., and Mason, W. J.), 16 (Academic, New York, 1962). Ulbricht, T. L. V., Origins of Life, 6, 303 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Urey, H. C., Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 38, 351 (1952).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Thiemann, W., and Darge, W., Origins of Life, 5, 263 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kovacs, K. L., and Garay, A. S., Nature, 254, 538 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Merwitz, O., Rad. Env. Biophys., 13, 63 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Ulbricht, T. L. V., and Vester, F., Tetrahedron, 18, 629 (1962).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Garay, A. S., Nature, 219, 338 (1968).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Goldanskii, V. I., and Khrapov, V. V., Sov. Phys. JETP, 16(3), 582 (1963).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Lemmon, R. M., Bernstein, W. J., and Calvin, M., in Molecular Evolution: Pre-biological and Biological. (edit. by Rohlfing, D. L., and Oparin, A. I.), 151 (Plenum, New York, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Bonner, W. A., Int. Symp. Gener. Amplific. Asymmetry chem. Sys., Jülich, 1973 (edit. by Thiemann, W.), 61–84 (Report JUL-CONF-13, Nov. 1974); J. molec. Evol., 4, 23–39 (1974).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Garay, A. S., Keszthelyi, L., Demeter, I., and Hrasko, P., Chem. Phys. Lett., 23, 549–552 (1973); Nature, 250, 332 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Bonner, W. A., et al., Chemical Evolution of the Giant Planets, College Park Colloquia on Chemical Evolution, 1974 (College Park, Maryland). Bonner, W. A., van Dort, M. A., and Yearian, M. R., Nature, 258, 419 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Lemmon, R. M., et al., Nature, 252, 692 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Rein, D., J. molec. Evolution, 4, 15 (1974), idem, Proc. of the Triangle Seminar on Weak Interactions at Low Energies, 1974, Debrecen, Hungary (Atomki Közlemények, suppl., 16 1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Gajzago, E., and Marx, G., ibid.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fachhochschule Aachen, FRG, Biological Research Center Szeged, Hungary

    W. DARGE, I. LACZKÓ & W. THIEMANN

  2. Kernforschungsanlage Jülich GmbH, Postfach 1913, D517, Jülich, FRG

    W. DARGE, I. LACZKÓ & W. THIEMANN

Authors
  1. W. DARGE
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. I. LACZKÓ
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. W. THIEMANN
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

DARGE, W., LACZKÓ, I. & THIEMANN, W. Stereoselectivity of β irradiation of D,L-tryptophan in aqueous solution. Nature 261, 522–524 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261522a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261522a0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing