80 million year old collagen successfully recovered
26 Jan 2017 by Evoluted New Media
Researchers in the US have successfully isolated additional collagen from dinosaur fossils 80 million years old, suggesting organic molecules can last far longer than originally thought.
Researchers in the US have successfully isolated additional collagen from dinosaur fossils 80 million years old, suggesting organic molecules can last far longer than originally thought.
The team of scientists wanted to confirm earlier readings of dinosaur collagen reported in 2009 of Brachylophosaurus Canadensis, a hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur.
Elena Schroeter, a postdoctoral researcher from North Carolina State University, said: “Mass spectrometry technology and protein databases have improved since the first findings were published, and we wanted to not only address questions concerning the original findings, but also demonstrate that it is possible to repeatedly obtain informative peptide sequences from ancient fossils.”
The sample material came from the specimen’s thigh bone. Using mass spectrometry, eight peptide sequences of collagen were collected – two identical to the 2009 find and six new sequences. Recovering peptides, the building blocks of proteins, can enable researchers to determine evolutionary relationships between dinosaurs and modern animals. It can also help them investigate other questions such as which particular characteristics of collagen protein allow it to be preserved over such long timescales.
The collagen in B. canadensis was found to have sequence similarities with collagen in crocodylians and birds, an expected result based on previous bone studies.
"We are confident that the results we obtained are not contamination and that this collagen is original to the specimen," Schroeter says. "Not only did we replicate part of the 2009 results, thanks to improved methods and technology we did it with a smaller sample and over a shorter period of time."
