Hostname: page-component-6d856f89d9-xkcpr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T06:32:32.067Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fossil mollusk shell organic matrix components preserved for 80 million years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

S. Weiner ,
H. A. Lowenstam ,
B. Taborek  and
L. Hood
S. Weiner
Affiliation:
Isotope Department, The Weizman Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
H. A. Lowenstam
Affiliation:
Division of Geological and Planetry Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
B. Taborek
Affiliation:
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
L. Hood
Affiliation:
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The organic matrix components of a fossil ammonoid shell from the Upper Cretaceous, can be separated into sub-fractions which are generally comparable to those found in extant Nautilus, using ion exchange chromatography. This suggests that at least portions of these components are sufficiently well preserved to interact characteristically with the ion exchange resin. Amino acid compositions of these sub-fractions, however, do not resemble Nautilus organic matrix sub-fractions, indicating that considerable diagenetic alteration of this material has taken place.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , Spring 1979 , pp. 144 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Abelson, P. H. 1954. Organic constituents of fossils. Carnegie Inst. Washington Yearb. 53:97–101.Google Scholar
Abelson, P. H. 1955. Organic constituents of fossils. Carnegie Inst. Washington Yearb. 54:107–109.Google Scholar
Akiyama, M. 1971. The amino acid composition of fossil scallop shell proteins and non-proteins. Biomin. Res. Rep. 3:65–70.Google Scholar
Degens, E. T. and Love, S. 1965. Comparative studies of amino acids in shell structures of Gyraulus trochiformis Stahl, from the Tertiary of Steinheim, Germany. Nature. 205:876–878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong, E. W., Westbroek, P., Westbroek, J. F., and Bruining, J. W. 1974. Preservation of antigenic properties of macromolecules over 70 Myr. Nature. 252:63–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grandjean, J., Gregoire, C., and Lutts, A. 1964. Mineral components and remnants of organic structures in shells of fossil molluscs. Bull. Acad. Belg. Cl. Sci. Ser 5. 50:562–595.Google Scholar
Gregoire, Ch., Duchateau, G. L., and Florkin, M. 1955. La trame protidique des nacres et des perles. Ann. Inst. Oceanogr. 31:1–36.Google Scholar
Hare, P. E. and Mitterer, R. M. 1966. Nonprotein amino acids in fossil shells. Carnegie Inst. Washington Yearb. 65:362–365.Google Scholar
Hare, P. E. and Hoering, T. C. 1977. The organic constituents of fossil mollusc shells. Carnegie Inst. Washington Yearb. 76:625–631.Google Scholar
Hoare, D. G. and Koshland, D. E. 1967. A method for the quantitative modification and estimation of carboxylic acid groups in proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 242:2447–2453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jope, M. 1967. The protein of Brachiopod shell—II. Shell protein from fossil articulates: amino acid composition. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 20:601–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krampitz, G., Engels, J., and Cazaux, C. 1976. Biochemical studies on water-soluble proteins and related components of gastropod shells. Pp. 155–173. In: Watabe, N. and Wilbur, K. M., eds. The Mechanisms of Mineralization in the Invertebrates and Plants. Univ. South Carolina Press; Columbia, South Carolina.Google Scholar
Lee, S. L., Veis, A. and Glonek, T. 1977. Dentin phosphoprotein: an extracellular calcium-binding protein. Biochemistry. 16:2971–2979.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matter, P., Davidson, F. D., and Wyckoff, R. W. G. 1970. The microstructure and composition of some Pliocene fossils. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 35:291–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nissenbaum, A. and Kaplan, I. R. 1972. Chemical and isotopic evidence for the in situ origin of marine humic substances. Limnol. and Oceanogr. 17:570–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallentyne, J. R. 1969. Pyrolysis of amino acids in Pleistocene Mercenaria shells. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 33:1453–1458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Meide, P. H., Westbroek, P., and de Jong, E. W. 1979. Characterization of macromolecules from fossil shells by immunology and Curie-point pyrolysis mass spectrometry. In: 3rd International Symposium on the Mechanisms of Biomineralization in the Invertebrates and Plants (in press).Google Scholar
Voss-Foucart, M. F. and Gregoire, Ch. 1971. Biochemical composition and submicroscopic structure of matrices of nacreous conchiolin in fossil Cephalopods (Nautiloids and Ammonoids). Bull. Inst. Sci. Nat. Belg. 47:1–39.Google Scholar
Weiner, S. and Hood, L. 1975. Soluble protein of the organic matrix of mollusk shells: a potential template for shell formation. Science. 190:987–989.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiner, S., Lowenstam, H. A., and Hood, L. 1976. Characterization of 80-million-year-old mollusk shell proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA). 73:2541–2545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiner, S. and Lowenstam, H. A. 1979. Well preserved fossil mollusk shells: characterization of mild diagenetic processes. In: Hare, P. E., ed Biogeochemistry of Amino Acids (in press).Google Scholar
Wilbur, K. M. and Simkiss, K. 1968. Calcified shells. Pp. 229–295. In: Florkin, M. and Stotz, E. H., eds. Comprehensive Biochemistry. Vol. 26, part A. Elsevier; Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Wyckoff, R. W. G. 1972. The Biochemistry of Animal Fossils. 152 pp. Williams and Wilkins Company; Baltimore, Maryland.Google Scholar