AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEINS IN FOSSIL BIOMINERALS
An essential cross-disciplinary guide to the proteins that form biominerals and that are preserved in the fossil record
Amino Acids and Proteins in Fossil Biominerals is an authoritative guide to the patterns of survival and degradation of ancient biomolecules in the fossil record. The author brings together new research in biomineralization and ancient proteins to describe mechanisms of protein diagenesis.
The book draws on the author’s experiences as well as current information from three research fields: geochemistry, archaeology and Quaternary sciences. The author examines the history of the study of ancient proteins, from the dating of Quaternary biominerals to the present advances in shotgun proteomics, and discusses their applications across archaeology, geology and evolutionary biology.
This important guide:
* Explores the main components of biominerals
* Describes the breakdown of proteins in fossils
* Reviews the applications of ancient protein studies
Written for students and researchers of biomolecular archaeology and palaeontology, Amino Acids and Proteins in Fossil Biominerals provides a cross-disciplinary guide to the proteins responsible for the formation of biominerals and to the survival of biomolecules in the archaeological and palaeontological record.
This book forms one volume of the popular New Analytical Methods in Earth and Environmental Science Series.
Table of Content
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
1 Biominerals and the Fossil Record 1
Why Study Old Biominerals? 1
What are Biominerals? 4
How and Why are Biominerals Formed? 5
‘Biomineralization Toolkit’: From Proteins to Proteomes 8
Fossil Biominerals, Fossil Proteomes 12
References 16
2 Mechanisms of Degradation and Survival 23
Introduction 23
Hydrolysis 27
Racemization 31
Decomposition and Other Diagenesis-induced Modifications 35
References 38
3 Proteins in Fossil Biominerals 43
Bone and Other Collagen-based Hard Tissues 43
Tooth 45
Eggshell 47
Mollusc Shell 51
Other Substrates 57
References 63
4 Chiral Amino Acids: Geochronology and Other Applications 71
Dating the Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene) 71
Principles of AAR Dating 76
Measuring D/L Values 78
Factors Affecting D/L Values 82
Aminostratigraphy 87
Aminochronology 92
Palaeothermometry 97
Testing the Suitability of Biominerals for Geochemical Analyses 98
Taxonomic Identification 99
Appendix: Practical Tips on How to Plan and Conduct an AAR Study 100
References 104
5 Ancient Protein Sequences 113
Ancient Protein Analysis by Mass Spectrometry 113
Ancient Proteins: Past and Future 120
References 122
Index 127
About the author
Beatrice Demarchi, Ph D, is a biomolecular archaeologist in the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
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