Evidência de colágeno preservado em fóssil de dinossauro do Jurássico Inferior (195 milhões de anos)
Autor: Enézio E. de Almeida Filho | Publicado: 2017-01-31T22:10:00-02:00


Evidence of preserved collagen in an Early Jurassic sauropodomorph dinosaur revealed by synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopy



Yao-Chang Lee, Cheng-Cheng Chiang, Pei-Yu Huang, Chao-Yu Chung, Timothy D. Huang, Chun-Chieh Wang, Ching-Iue Chen, Rong-Seng Chang, Cheng-Hao Liao &amp; Robert R. Reisz



Nature Communications 8, Article number: 14220 (2017)



doi:10.1038/ncomms14220



Palaeontology



Received:&nbsp;13 December 2015&nbsp;Accepted:&nbsp;09 December 2016&nbsp;Published online:&nbsp;

31 January 2017







Figure 1: Rib fragment (CXPM Z4644) of Lufengosaurus.



Abstract



Fossilized organic remains are important sources of information because they provide a unique form of biological and evolutionary information, and have the long-term potential for genomic explorations. Here we report evidence of protein preservation in a terrestrial vertebrate found inside the vascular canals of a rib of a 195-million-year-old sauropodomorph dinosaur, where blood vessels and nerves would normally have been present in the living organism. The in situ synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) spectra exhibit the characteristic infrared absorption bands for amide A and B, amide I, II and III of collagen. Aggregated haematite particles (α-Fe2O3) about 6∼8 μm in diameter are also identified inside the vascular canals using confocal Raman microscopy, where the organic remains were preserved. We propose that these particles likely had a crucial role in the preservation of the proteins, and may be remnants partially contributed from haemoglobin and other iron-rich proteins from the original blood.



Acknowledgements



We thank ChuanWei Yang of LuFeng County Dinosaur Museum and ShiMing Zhong of ChuXiong Prefecture Museum for their assistance in field work, and Cheng-Chi Chen for help with SR-FTIR experiments and the colleagues in the accelerator operation group at the NSRRC, Taiwan, for optimizing the stability of the infrared synchrotron radiation. Funding was provided by NSRRC, MOE 103G-903-2 through National Central University, MOST 105-2112-M-213-001 (Taiwan) and NSERC (Canada).



Author information



Affiliations



National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan



Yao-Chang Lee, Cheng-Cheng Chiang, Pei-Yu Huang, Chun-Chieh Wang &amp; Ching-Iue Chen



Department of Optics and Photonics, National Central University, Chung-Li 32001, Taiwan



Yao-Chang Lee, Timothy D. Huang, Rong-Seng Chang &amp; Robert R. Reisz



Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan



Chao-Yu Chung



Dinosaur Evolution Research Center of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130012, China



Timothy D. Huang &amp; Robert R. Reisz



College of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 400, Taiwan



Timothy D. Huang &amp; Robert R. Reisz



Tosun Public Interests Foundation, Taipei 100, Taiwan



Cheng-Hao Liao



Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 1C6



Robert R. Reisz



Contributions



Y.-C.L. wrote first draft of the paper, analysed spectral data of SR-FTIR and Raman scattering and constructed SR-FTIR spectral images. C.-C.C. made fossil ultrathin slides; C.-C.C. and R.-S.C. first found red-blood-cell-like particles within the Lufengosaurus rib and proposed their study. P.-Y.H. acquired FTIR spectral data and constructed FTIR images; C.-Y.C. collected the transient absorption images of haematite in the fossil; T.D.H. initiated the organic remains project, provided various fossil specimens and contributed to the manuscript. C.-C.W. helped to acquire three-dimensional tomographic images. C.-I.C. set optical alignment of endstation of IMS and acquired FTIR spectral images; C.-H.L. provided logistical and research support. R.R.R. proposed the study, contributed to manuscript and guided the project.



Competing interests



The authors declare no competing financial interests.



Corresponding authors



Correspondence to Yao-Chang Lee or Robert R. Reisz.



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