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Updated: Aug 16, 2025

Insights into the Interactions of Amino Acids and Peptides with Inorganic Materials Using Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy
Published on: March 6, 2017
Survival of mineral-bound peptides into the Miocene
Beatrice Demarchi1, Meaghan Mackie2,3, Zhiheng Li4
1Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy.
Abstract:
Previously, we showed that authentic peptide sequences could be obtained from 3.8-Ma-old ostrich eggshell (OES) from the site of Laetoli, Tanzania (Demarchi et al., 2016). Here, we show that the same sequences survive in a >6.5 Ma OES recovered from a palaeosteppe setting in northwestern China. The eggshell is thicker than those observed in extant species and consistent with the Liushu Struthio sp. ootaxon. These findings push the preservation of ancient proteins back to the Miocene and highlight their potential for paleontology, paleoecology, and evolutionary biology.
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