纽约大学Thomas A. Neubert团队的研究开发出了古代谢组学提供了早期人类遗址的生物和生态概况。该研究于2025年12月17日发表于国际一流学术期刊《自然》杂志上。

在这里，该课题组人员评估来自化石哺乳动物硬组织的古代谢组，作为一种分子生态策略，为古代生物与其环境的关系提供证据。从非洲东部、中部和南部具有古人类意义的上新世-更新世地区，该研究组研究了来自坦桑尼亚Olduvai峡谷的6块化石，马拉维Chiwondo床的1块化石，以及南非Makapansgat的1块化石。该课题组通过分析古土壤的古代谢组学和猫头鹰消化对啮齿动物骨骼的影响来进行内生性评估，以进行谨慎的生态推断。成岩作用是由产生胶原酶的细菌的代谢物指示的，而包括胶原蛋白在内的肽的保存则是由蛋白质组学鉴定的。内源代谢产物记录了生物功能，外源代谢产物呈现了环境细节，包括土壤特征和树木覆盖，并使Olduvai峡谷的年最小和最大降雨量和温度得以重建，支持Olduvai峡谷I床的淡水林地和草原以及Olduvai峡谷II6床上部的干燥林地和沼泽。所有地点都表示比今天更潮湿和/或更温暖。课题组推断，保存在硬组织中的代谢物来自于渗出的脉管血清滤液，这些滤液被埋藏在正在发育的矿化基质中，并且很可能在硬组织生态位中发生的纳米级结构结合水“池”中存活下来。

研究人员表示，代谢谱学利用代谢过程中被称为代谢物的化合物副产物来解释内部生物功能、生理健康和疾病，并为生物体栖息地特有的外部影响提供证据。

附：英文原文

Title: Palaeometabolomes yield biological and ecological profiles at early human sites

Author: Bromage, Timothy G., Denys, Christiane, De Jesus, Christopher Lawrence, Erdjument-Bromage, Hediye, Kullmer, Ottmar, Sandrock, Oliver, Schrenk, Friedemann, McKee, Marc D., Reznikov, Natalie, Ashley, Gail M., Hu, Bin, Poudel, Sher B., Souron, Antoine, Buss, Daniel J., Ittah, Eran, Kubat, Jlide, Rabieh, Sasan, Yakar, Shoshana, Neubert, Thomas A.

Issue&Volume: 2025-12-17

Abstract: The science of metabolic profiling exploits chemical compound byproducts of metabolism called metabolites1 that explain internal biological functions, physiological health and disease, and provide evidence of external influences specific to an organism’s habitat. Here we assess palaeometabolomes from fossilized mammalian hard tissues as a molecular ecological strategy to provide evidence of an ancient organism’s relationship with its environment. From eastern, central and southern African Plio-Pleistocene localities of palaeoanthropological significance, we study six fossils from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, one from the Chiwondo Beds, Malawi, and one from Makapansgat, South Africa. We perform endogeneity assessments by analysing palaeometabolomes of palaeosols and the effects of owl digestion on rodent bones to enable prudent ecological inferences. Diagenesis is indicated by metabolites of collagenase-producing bacteria2, whereas the preservation of peptides including those of collagen are identified by proteomics. Endogenous metabolites document biological functions and exogenous metabolites render environmental details including soil characteristics and woody cover, and enable annual minimum and maximum rainfall and temperature reconstructions at Olduvai Gorge, supporting the freshwater woodland and grasslands of Olduvai Gorge Bed I3,4,5, and the dry woodlands and marsh of Olduvai Gorge Upper Bed II6. All sites denote wetter and/or warmer conditions than today. We infer that metabolites preserved in hard tissues derive from an extravasated vasculature serum filtrate that becomes entombed within developing mineralized matrices, and most probably survive palaeontological timeframes in the nanoscopic ‘pool’ of structural-bound water that occurs in hard tissue niches7.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09843-w

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09843-w