古代生物分子在第四纪研究中的应用

从第四纪化石和沉积物中获得的古代生物分子为第四纪研究者提供了丰富和独特的有关古代生物、遗传和古环境信息的定量和高分辨率的数据.过去10多年的研究证实来自第四纪材料中的各种古代生物分子的分离、鉴定和应用的能力在不断增加.文章总结了古代生物分子在第四纪研究中的最新进展,主要包括以下几个方面的内容:1)不同类型的古代生物分子在地质体中的保存和降解;2)古DNA和古蛋白序列中的生物遗传学信息;3)单体分子同位素与第四纪古环境和古气候研究;4)建于古代生物分子水平上的第四纪年代学.作者预见对第四纪地层中的原位和分散保存的古代生物分子的研究将在广度上以多分子综合研究而深度上与单体分子同位素技术相结合,为第四纪科学家们提供大量解决地质学和演化生物学问题的高精度数据.随着地球化学和分子生物学技术的不断改进以及人们对古代生物分子的降解过程和机制的进一步理解,对古代生物分子的研究无疑将进一步促进和推动第四纪科学研究的发展.

ANCIENT BIOMOLECULES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN QUATERNARY SCIENCES

Ancient biomolecules obtained and characterized from in situ Quaternary fossils or sedimentary matrix have provided Quaternary scientists with quantitative and high resolution data that contain rich and some times unique paleobiological, paleogenetic, and paleoenvironmental information. The past ten years have witnessed an increase capability of isolating, characterizing, and applying a variety of ancient biomolecules from Quaternary material, and this body of information forms the basis for this review paper which attempts to summarize the current progress in this field. We focus our attention on the following aspects: (1) preservation and degradation of different types of ancient biomolecules, (2) paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic applications of compound specific isotope analysis, (3) paleobiological investigations using DNA and protein sequence data, and (4) research on molecular level Quaternary geochronology. We predict that that multiple molecular approaches combined with molecular level isotope investigations on both in situ and dispersal ancient biomolecules will offer Quaternary scientists with high resolution data on a wide range of important geological and evolutionary biology questions. Quaternary biomolecular studies will also be fueled by the improvement of geochemical and/or molecular biology technologies coupled by a better understanding of decay agents, mechanism, and process of ancient biomolecules.