从生物矿化作用衍生出的有机矿化作用:地球生物学框架下重要的研究主题

Organomineralization Derived from the Biomineralization;An Important Theme within the Framework of Geobiology

早期"生物矿化作用"的概念,被定义为生物形成矿物的作用,并进一步分为生物控制和生物诱导两大类型。这个宽泛的概念,被修订为生物以生命活型(living form)影响矿物物质的沉淀作用;相应地,"生物矿物"是在严格的生物控制下、从局部环境中选择性地吸收元素并融合成具有生物功能构造的矿物。"有机矿化作用",则被定义为"与那些无生命活力的有机物质相关联的矿物形成作用"。与生物矿化作用相对应,有机矿化作用的产物被定义为"有机矿物",用来指那些通过有机聚合物、生物的和(或)非生物的有机化合物所导致的矿物沉淀作用,但是,有机矿物并非活着的细胞所直接形成。有机矿物与生物矿物的重要区别是,有机矿物没有被融合成受到生物严格控制的功能性构造。生物学家和化学家将生物矿化作用作为关注"生命体系中复杂的化学过程"的研究主题,超越了地质学范畴并使生物矿化作用的研究成为多学科关注的迷人领域,也大大促进了有机矿化作用的研究;考虑到有机矿物是沉积岩的重要组成,而且与生物的出现同步,还是潜在性的地外生命的遗迹,因此,从生物矿化作用衍生出的有机矿化作用的研究,自然就成为与生物矿化作用存在紧密关联的。

Traditionally, the concept of biomineralization has been defined as the mineral formation by organism and further has been grouped into two types, i.e. the biologically controlled and the biologically induced biomineralizations. This broad term of biomineralization has been emended as the process by which living forms influence the precipitation of mineral materials; correspondingly, the term of biomineral has been redefined as the product of the selective uptake of elements from the local environment, and it can incorporate into functional structures under strict biological control. Correspondingly, the concept of ＂organomineralization＂ that is derived from the broad biomineralization is used to describe a mineral formation linked to non-living organic substances, and the product resulted from the organomineralization is defined as the ＂organomineral＂, i.e. refers to minerals that are affected by organics, mostly life-related, but not directly produced by living cells. Thus, the chief difference between the biomineral and the organomineral is that the later can not incorporate into functional structures under strict biological control. When the biomineralization attract the attention by biologists and chemists, it becomes the research object for the further understanding of ＂the sophisticate chemical process within life system＂; further, the biomineralization gradually becomes an attracting research field of many subjects beyond the geological field. At the same time, studies on the biomineralization result in the advances of the organomineralization. Because the organomineralization and its product, i. e. , the organomineral, is volumetrically important constituent of the sedimentary rock record, is synonymous with paleontology and is potentially exciting tracer for life beyond Earth, studies on the organomineralization and its product become an important researching theme within the framework of geobiology.