Batty Claire A, Pearson Victoria K, Olsson-Francis Karen, Morgan Geraint
The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.
Nat Prod Rep. 2025 Jan 22;42(1):93-112. doi: 10.1039/d4np00037d.
Covering: 1961 to 2024Discovering and identifying unique natural products/biosignatures (signatures that can be used as evidence for past or present life) that are abundant, and complex enough that they indicate robust evidence of life is a multifaceted process. One distinct category of biosignatures being explored is organic compounds. A subdivision of these compounds not yet readily investigated are volatile organic compound (VOCs). When assessing these VOCs as a group (volatilome) a fingerprint of all VOCs within an environment allows the complex patterns in metabolic data to be unravelled. As a technique already successfully applied to many biological and ecological fields, this paper explores how analysis of volatilomes in terrestrial extreme environments could be used to enhance processes (such as metabolomics and metagenomics) already utilised in life detection beyond Earth. By overcoming some of the complexities of collecting VOCs in remote field sites, a variety of lab based analytical equipment and techniques can then be utilised. Researching volatilomics in astrobiology requires time to characterise the patterns of VOCs. They must then be differentiated from abiotic (non-living) signals within extreme environments similar to those found on other planetary bodies (analogue sites) or in lab-based simulated environments or microcosms. Such an effort is critical for understanding data returned from past or upcoming missions, but it requires a step change in approach which explores the volatilome as a vital additional tool to current 'Omics techniques.
1961年至2024年
发现并鉴定独特的天然产物/生物特征（可作为过去或现在生命证据的特征），这些特征丰富且复杂到足以表明生命的有力证据，这是一个多方面的过程。正在探索的一类独特的生物特征是有机化合物。这些化合物中尚未得到充分研究的一个细分领域是挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）。当将这些VOCs作为一个整体（挥发组）进行评估时，环境中所有VOCs的指纹图谱能够揭示代谢数据中的复杂模式。作为一种已成功应用于许多生物学和生态学领域的技术，本文探讨了如何利用陆地极端环境中挥发组的分析来加强已经用于地球以外生命探测的过程（如代谢组学和宏基因组学）。通过克服在偏远野外地点收集VOCs的一些复杂性，随后可以利用各种基于实验室的分析设备和技术。在天体生物学中研究挥发组学需要时间来表征VOCs的模式。然后必须将它们与极端环境中的非生物（无生命）信号区分开来，这些极端环境类似于在其他行星体（模拟地点）上发现的环境，或基于实验室的模拟环境或微观世界。这样的努力对于理解过去或即将到来的任务返回的数据至关重要，但它需要在方法上有一个飞跃，即将挥发组作为当前“组学”技术的一个重要补充工具来探索。
