Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.
Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Astrobiology. 2020 Oct;20(10):1251-1261. doi: 10.1089/ast.2019.2135. Epub 2020 Jun 17.
It is now routinely possible to sequence and recover microbial genomes from environmental samples. To the degree it is feasible to assign transcriptional and translational functions to these genomes, it should be possible, in principle, to largely understand the complete molecular inputs and outputs of a microbial community. However, gene-based tools alone are presently insufficient to describe the full suite of chemical reactions and small molecules that compose a living cell. Metabolomic tools have developed quickly and now enable rapid detection and identification of small molecules within biological and environmental samples. The convergence of these technologies will soon facilitate the detection of novel enzymatic activities, novel organisms, and potentially extraterrestrial life-forms on solar system bodies. This review explores the methodological problems and scientific opportunities facing researchers who hope to apply metabolomic methods in astrobiology-related fields, and how present challenges might be overcome.
现在通常可以从环境样本中测序和恢复微生物基因组。在可行的范围内，将转录和翻译功能分配给这些基因组，原则上，应该有可能在很大程度上了解微生物群落的完整分子输入和输出。然而，仅基于基因的工具目前还不足以描述构成活细胞的全套化学反应和小分子。代谢组学工具发展迅速，现在能够快速检测和识别生物和环境样本中的小分子。这些技术的融合将很快促进在太阳系天体上检测新的酶活性、新的生物和潜在的外星生命形式。这篇综述探讨了希望在与天体生物学相关的领域应用代谢组学方法的研究人员所面临的方法学问题和科学机遇，以及如何克服当前的挑战。
