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Preserved amino acids from silicified protein in fossil Radiolaria

Abstract

THE discovery of amino acids in fossils1 has stimulated a wide range of biochemical studies2,3 over the past 20 yr with implications for evolution, geochronology, and biomineralisation. One productive line of evolutionary investigation has been the analysis of calcified protein from Recent shells of calcareous invertebrates such as molluscs4,5 and planktonic Foraminifera6,7. Results indicate that the amino acid composition is species-specific and varies in a systematic manner which parallels morphology. Moreover, data from extinct 18-Myr-old Foraminifera suggest that the technique can be applied directly to the deepsea fossil record for establishing phylogenetic affinities6,7. Virtually nothing is known, however, of the nature of the organic matrices which may exist in fossil skeletons composed of silicia rather than calcium carbonate. Amino acid data from this study are therefore believed to be the first evidence reported for the presence and diagenesis of silicified protein in the fossil record.

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KING, K. Preserved amino acids from silicified protein in fossil Radiolaria. Nature 252, 690–692 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/252690b0

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