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Role of clays in protecting adsorbed DNA against X-ray radiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2004

Angela Ciaravella ,
Flavio Scappini ,
Marco Franchi ,
Cesare Cecchi-Pestellini ,
Marco Barbera ,
Roberto Candia ,
Enzo Gallori  and
Giuseppina Micela
Angela Ciaravella
Affiliation:
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo “G.S. Vaiana”, Piazza Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: aciaravella@astropa.unipa.it
Flavio Scappini
Affiliation:
Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati del CNR, Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Marco Franchi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica dell'Università, Via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze, Italy
Cesare Cecchi-Pestellini
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., 02138 Cambridge, MA, USA
Marco Barbera
Affiliation:
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo “G.S. Vaiana”, Piazza Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: aciaravella@astropa.unipa.it
Roberto Candia
Affiliation:
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo “G.S. Vaiana”, Piazza Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: aciaravella@astropa.unipa.it
Enzo Gallori
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica dell'Università, Via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze, Italy
Giuseppina Micela
Affiliation:
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo “G.S. Vaiana”, Piazza Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: aciaravella@astropa.unipa.it
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Abstract

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We studied the effects of soft X-rays radiation on free and clay (montmorillonite, kaolinite) adsorbed DNA. The DNA samples were exposed to X-rays of 1.49, 4.51 and 8.04 keV for exposure times ranging from 2 min up to 16 h. The biological transformation technique was used to estimate the damage of the DNA molecules. Free and clay adsorbed DNA are differently affected by X-rays. The former is damaged by X-rays and the level of damage depends on the energy dose rather than the hardness of the radiation. The clay adsorbed DNA is not damaged by X-rays for energy doses up to 5.8×104 erg. Clays materials could have protected the building blocks of life on the primordial Earth when the solar X-ray emission was much stronger than today.

Keywords

clay mineralsclay nucleic acid complexesorigin of lifesurface mediated origin of genetic materialX-ray irradiation of DNA
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 31 - 35
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press