Application of Immunology to Carbonate Sedimentology and Paleontology

这项研究将检查骨基质蛋白的保存情况， 骨钙素（以下简称OC）在化石骨和可能的 该蛋白质在脊椎动物化石免疫分类学中的应用。 这 研究工作将是这段更新期的重点。 我们 发现OC保存在牛和啮齿动物的骨骼化石中， 至少有1800 - 3000万年的历史。 这一事件得到证实， 免疫学和生化学。 此外，我们还提取了 化石马骨（Miohippus，渐新世（2800万 岁），南达科他州），并已引发抗体反应 与现代马OC对抗。 保存抗原的发现 决定因素和可能保存的蛋白质在这样古老的 材料为分子古生物学研究打开了可能性， 已灭绝生物的主要群体之间的系统发育关系， 这是通常的分子生物学不可能做到的 应用于现代生物的方法（线粒体DNA限制 酶位点作图等） 这项新的研究可能是重大的 对理解脊椎动物化石之间的关系具有重要意义， 包括已经灭绝的族群 这项研究是独特的，在其直接研究 从化石中提取的高分子，而不是重建 从现代分类群的数据的系统发育关系。

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.