據(jù)10月2日的《科學(xué)》雜志報道說,，科學(xué)家們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了由原始植物所產(chǎn)生的琥珀,，這些原始植物生活的年代比開花植物出現(xiàn)的年代要早許多,，而開花植物是最出名的產(chǎn)生琥珀的來源,。
琥珀是樹脂所形成的化石,，它通常是在應(yīng)對某種損傷的時候而產(chǎn)生的。 大多數(shù)的琥珀是中生代或新生代的產(chǎn)物,，其年代可回溯到遠至2億5000年前,，它們是由被子植物所產(chǎn)生的。
Sargent Bray及其同僚現(xiàn)在在石炭紀沉積物中發(fā)現(xiàn)了琥珀，該時期可回溯到3億多年以前,。 這一時期中的優(yōu)勢植物被稱作裸子植物,。 令人驚詫的是，這一琥珀與來自被子植物的琥珀具有相似的化學(xué)成分,，從而提示,，產(chǎn)生復(fù)雜的琥珀的生物合成機制在出現(xiàn)開花植物之前就已經(jīng)演化成了。 一則相關(guān)的Perspective對這些發(fā)現(xiàn)進行了詳細的說明,。(生物谷bioon.com)
生物谷國慶獻禮：新中國生命科學(xué)60年
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science 2 October 2009:DOI: 10.1126/science.1177539
Identification of Carboniferous (320 Million Years Old) Class Ic Amber
P. Sargent Bray* and Ken B. Anderson
The presence of amber, the fossil form of the resins produced by many types of higher plants, has been reported from many localities in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks. We have found Class I (polylabdanoid) amber in Carboniferous sediments dating to ~320 million years ago. This result demonstrates that preconifer gymnosperms evolved the biosynthetic mechanisms to produce complex polyterpenoid resins earlier than previously believed and that the biosynthetic pathways leading to the types of polylabdanoid resins that are now typically found in conifers and those now typically found in angiosperms had already diverged by the Carboniferous.
Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.
