The Geochemical Fate of Proteins

M. J. Collins; D. Walton; A. King

The Geochemical Fate of Proteins

M. J. Collins^*, D. Walton, A. King

^*Corresponding author for this work

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Proteins represent the major pool of nitrogen in the biosphere, but undergo rapid biodegradation and efficient microbial recycling so that few recognizable remnants survive into the geological record. If these remnants become incorporated into geopolymers, then their origin becomes increasingly difficult to identify. Despite the relative instability of proteins, sites which exclude enzymolysis reveal that proteins are sufficiently robust to survive in a recognizable form in many burial environments over millennia, and many of their constituent amino acids for millions of years. Decomposition occurs via a series of reactions, the most rapid of which are sulphydryl oxidation, deamidation and dehydration, but some of these reactions can be slowed significantly by reducing the conformational flexibility of the protein. Ultimately, amino acids will decompose completely to produce light hydrocarbons, the pattern of which, in some biominerals, is consistent with a protein origin.

Original language	English
Book series	ACS Symposium Series
Volume	707
Pages (from-to)	74-87
Number of pages	14
ISSN	0097-6156
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 1998

Cite this

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title = "The Geochemical Fate of Proteins",

abstract = "Proteins represent the major pool of nitrogen in the biosphere, but undergo rapid biodegradation and efficient microbial recycling so that few recognizable remnants survive into the geological record. If these remnants become incorporated into geopolymers, then their origin becomes increasingly difficult to identify. Despite the relative instability of proteins, sites which exclude enzymolysis reveal that proteins are sufficiently robust to survive in a recognizable form in many burial environments over millennia, and many of their constituent amino acids for millions of years. Decomposition occurs via a series of reactions, the most rapid of which are sulphydryl oxidation, deamidation and dehydration, but some of these reactions can be slowed significantly by reducing the conformational flexibility of the protein. Ultimately, amino acids will decompose completely to produce light hydrocarbons, the pattern of which, in some biominerals, is consistent with a protein origin.",

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T1 - The Geochemical Fate of Proteins

AU - Collins, M. J.

AU - Walton, D.

AU - King, A.

PY - 1998/12/1

Y1 - 1998/12/1

N2 - Proteins represent the major pool of nitrogen in the biosphere, but undergo rapid biodegradation and efficient microbial recycling so that few recognizable remnants survive into the geological record. If these remnants become incorporated into geopolymers, then their origin becomes increasingly difficult to identify. Despite the relative instability of proteins, sites which exclude enzymolysis reveal that proteins are sufficiently robust to survive in a recognizable form in many burial environments over millennia, and many of their constituent amino acids for millions of years. Decomposition occurs via a series of reactions, the most rapid of which are sulphydryl oxidation, deamidation and dehydration, but some of these reactions can be slowed significantly by reducing the conformational flexibility of the protein. Ultimately, amino acids will decompose completely to produce light hydrocarbons, the pattern of which, in some biominerals, is consistent with a protein origin.

AB - Proteins represent the major pool of nitrogen in the biosphere, but undergo rapid biodegradation and efficient microbial recycling so that few recognizable remnants survive into the geological record. If these remnants become incorporated into geopolymers, then their origin becomes increasingly difficult to identify. Despite the relative instability of proteins, sites which exclude enzymolysis reveal that proteins are sufficiently robust to survive in a recognizable form in many burial environments over millennia, and many of their constituent amino acids for millions of years. Decomposition occurs via a series of reactions, the most rapid of which are sulphydryl oxidation, deamidation and dehydration, but some of these reactions can be slowed significantly by reducing the conformational flexibility of the protein. Ultimately, amino acids will decompose completely to produce light hydrocarbons, the pattern of which, in some biominerals, is consistent with a protein origin.

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M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:0345985791

SN - 0097-6156

VL - 707

SP - 74

EP - 87

JO - ACS Symposium Series

JF - ACS Symposium Series

ER -

The Geochemical Fate of Proteins

Abstract

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