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Dinoflagellate origin for sedimentary 4α-methylsteroids and 5α(H)-stanols

Nature volume 308, pages 439–442 (1984)Cite this article

Abstract

Biological marker compounds provide useful tools for evaluating the depositional environments of Recent and ancient sediments and petroleums1, largely through established relationships between the organic matter of sediments and source organisms1,2. Such relationships are best tested and explored by investigating the lipid components of natural populations of autochthonous biota that can be clearly recognized as contributors to underlying bottom sediments. In this context we have studied the lipids of the freshwater dinoflagellate Peridinlum lomnickii Woloszynska (order Peridiniales, class Dinophyceae) collected from the waters of Priest Pot3, a eutrophic lake in the English Lake District. Its distributions of both 4α-methylsterols and 4α-methylstanones closely resemble those of the underlying bottom sediments, demonstrating that dinoflagellates are important contributors of these sedimentary compounds. The 4-methylsteroidal hydrocarbons found in ancient sediments and petroleums4–6 are presumably diagenetic products of such 4α-methylsteroids and therefore reflect dino flagellate inputs to the original depositional environments. Furthermore, the prominence of 5α(H)-cholestan-3β-ol in P. lomnickii suggests that dinoflagellates may be the long sought, direct biological source of sedimentary 5α(H)-stanols.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organic Geochemistry Unit, University of Bristol, School of Chemistry, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK

    N. Robinson, G. Eglinton & S. C. Brassell

  2. Freshwater Biological Association, Windermere Laboratory, The Ferry House, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 OLP, UK

    P. A. Cranwell

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  1. N. Robinson
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  2. G. Eglinton
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  3. S. C. Brassell
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  4. P. A. Cranwell
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Robinson, N., Eglinton, G., Brassell, S. et al. Dinoflagellate origin for sedimentary 4α-methylsteroids and 5α(H)-stanols. Nature 308, 439–442 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/308439a0

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