Amphiphilic components of the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite - Surface properties and membrane formation
The possibility that the amphiphilic compounds in carbonaceous meteorites whose physicochemical properties are presently studied may represent sources of lipidlike compounds which could have evolved as membrane components in primitive cells is investigated in samples of the Murchison CM2 chondrite. Surface properties and membrane formation are obtained for three fractions isolated by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. It is concluded that a small, undefined fraction of Murchison components exhibits amphiphilic properties which allow assembly into boundary membranes.