Biogeochemistry of marine palynomorphs

迄今为止，沉积有机质是全球碳循环中最大的碳汇，但由于其主要（95%）的大分子性质，人们对其化学成分知之甚少。在过去的几十年里，已经从陆地和淡水生物群中发现了一些抗性生物聚合物和地聚合物，并提出了转化途径。相比之下，进入地质有机碳循环的大分子海洋有机质的组成仍然很大程度上未知。没有这些小瓶信息，我们对有机物形成和保存的理解是严重不完整的。我们的目标是缩小这一海上差距。通过流式细胞术和SPLITT密度分离，从浮游生物培养物和沉积物中获得新鲜的和经过改造的单源抗性生物和地理大分子组分，将使用现代分析技术，如热分解和化学分解，GC/MS， FTIR和NMR分析进行分析。对耐药生物聚合物的多样性及其在地质时期的转变进行评估，对于许多学科都是至关重要的，因为它提供了对耐药生物聚合物的生物合成进化、碳循环、有机物保存、化石燃料形成和分子钟速率等方面的见解。

Sedimentary organic matter is by far the largest sink in the global carbon cycle, but its chemical composition due to its predominantly (95 %) macromolecular natur is poorly understood. Over the last decades some resistant bio- and geopolymers from terrestrial and freshwater biota have been identified and transformation pathways proposed. In contrast, the composition of macromolecular marine organic matter entering the geological organic carbon cycle is still largley unknown. Without this vial information, our understanding of organic matter formation and preservation is severely incomplete. We aim to narrow this marine gap. Hereto, single-source resistant bio- and geomacromolecular fractions from plankton cultures and sediments, fresh and after alteration, obtained by flowcytometry and SPLITT density separation, will be analysed using modern analytical techniques like pyro- and chemolysis, GC/MS, FTIR and NMR analyses. The assessment of the diversity of resistant biopolymers and their transformation through geological time is fundamental to a wide variety of disciplines as it provides insight in, e.g., the biosynthetic evolution of resistant biopolymers, the carbon cycle, organic matter preservation, fossil fuel formation and the rate of the molecular clock.