Ancient amino acids from fossil feathers in amber

Victoria E. McCoy; Sarah E. Gabbott; Kirsty Penkman; Matthew J. Collins; Samantha Presslee; John Holt; Harrison Grossman; Bo Wang; Monica M. Solórzano Kraemer; Xavier Delclòs; Enrique Peñalver

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-42938-9

Ancient amino acids from fossil feathers in amber

Victoria E. McCoy, Sarah E. Gabbott, Kirsty Penkman, Matthew J. Collins, Samantha Presslee, John Holt, Harrison Grossman, Bo Wang, Monica M. Solórzano Kraemer, Xavier Delclòs, Enrique Peñalver

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Ancient protein analysis is a rapidly developing field of research. Proteins ranging in age from the Quaternary to Jurassic are being used to answer questions about phylogeny, evolution, and extinction. However, these analyses are sometimes contentious, and focus primarily on large vertebrates in sedimentary fossilisation environments; there are few studies of protein preservation in fossils in amber. Here we show exceptionally slow racemisation rates during thermal degradation experiments of resin enclosed feathers, relative to previous thermal degradation experiments of ostrich eggshell, coral skeleton, and limpet shell. We also recover amino acids from two specimens of fossil feathers in amber. The amino acid compositions are broadly similar to those of degraded feathers, but concentrations are very low, suggesting that much of the original protein has been degraded and lost. High levels of racemisation in more apolar, slowly racemising amino acids suggest that some of the amino acids were ancient and therefore original. Our findings indicate that the unique fossilisation environment inside amber shows potential for the recovery of ancient amino acids and proteins.

Original language	English
Article number	6420
Pages (from-to)	1-8
Number of pages	1
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42938-9 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42938-9
Publication status	Published - 23 Apr 2019

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© The Author(s) 2019
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© 2019, The Author(s).
Final published version, 1.51 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Ancient amino acids from fossil feathers in amber",

abstract = "Ancient protein analysis is a rapidly developing field of research. Proteins ranging in age from the Quaternary to Jurassic are being used to answer questions about phylogeny, evolution, and extinction. However, these analyses are sometimes contentious, and focus primarily on large vertebrates in sedimentary fossilisation environments; there are few studies of protein preservation in fossils in amber. Here we show exceptionally slow racemisation rates during thermal degradation experiments of resin enclosed feathers, relative to previous thermal degradation experiments of ostrich eggshell, coral skeleton, and limpet shell. We also recover amino acids from two specimens of fossil feathers in amber. The amino acid compositions are broadly similar to those of degraded feathers, but concentrations are very low, suggesting that much of the original protein has been degraded and lost. High levels of racemisation in more apolar, slowly racemising amino acids suggest that some of the amino acids were ancient and therefore original. Our findings indicate that the unique fossilisation environment inside amber shows potential for the recovery of ancient amino acids and proteins.",

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AU - McCoy, Victoria E.

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AU - Collins, Matthew J.

AU - Presslee, Samantha

AU - Holt, John

AU - Grossman, Harrison

AU - Wang, Bo

AU - Solórzano Kraemer, Monica M.

AU - Delclòs, Xavier

AU - Peñalver, Enrique

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Ancient amino acids from fossil feathers in amber

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