Application of Immunology to Carbonate Sedimentology and Paleontology

该研究将检查骨化石中骨基质蛋白骨钙素（OC）的保存情况，以及该蛋白在脊椎动物化石免疫分类中的可能用途。这项研究将是这一复兴时期的主要重点。我们发现OC保存在至少1800万到3000万年前的牛和啮齿动物骨骼化石中。这一现象在免疫学和生物化学上都得到了证实。此外，我们从化石马骨（Miohippus，渐新世（2800万年前），南达科他州）中提取了大分子，并引发了针对现代马OC的抗体反应。在这些古老的材料中发现了保存下来的抗原决定因子和可能保存下来的蛋白质，这为研究灭绝生物主要群体之间的系统发育关系的分子古生物学研究提供了可能性，这是应用于现代生物的通常分子生物学方法(线粒体DNA限制性内切酶位点作图、这项新研究可能对理解化石脊椎动物之间的关系具有重要意义，包括已灭绝的类群。这项研究的独特之处在于它直接研究从化石中提取的大分子，而不是从现代分类群的数据中重建系统发育关系。

The research will examine the preservation of the bone matrix protein osteocalcin (referred to below as OC) in fossil bone and the possible use of that protein for immunotaxonomy of fossil vertebrates. This research will constitute the major emphasis of this renewal period. We have found that OC is preserved in fossil bovine and rodent bone at least 18-30 million years old. This occurrence was confirmed both immunologically and biochemically. In addition, we have extracted macromolecules from fossil horse bone (Miohippus, Oligocene (28 million years old), South Dakota) and have elicited reaction with antibodies raised against modern horse OC. The discovery of preserved antigenic determinants and potentially preserved proteins in such ancient materials opens the possibility for molecular paleontology studies of phylogenetic relationships among major groups of extinct organisms, something which is not possible with the usual molecular biological methods applied to modern organisms (mitochondrial DNA restriction enzyme site mapping, etc.) This new research could be of major significance in understanding relationships among fossil vertebrates, including extinct groups. This research is unique in its direct study of macromolecules extracted from fossils, rather than reconstructing phylogenetic relationships from data on modern taxa.