植物细胞质化石研究进展

 近年来古植物学研究表明,植物细胞质确实可以保存为化石。随着相关研究技术的进步,研究发现植物化石中具有和现代植物相似的超微结构。特殊情况下,植物细胞质化石研究能够帮助解决现代生物学中某些难以解决的问题。高温和野火在植物细胞质化石的形成过程中起到了重要作用,而一个过去被古生物学家视而不见的自然现象--雷电可能对某些超微结构的固定起到了关键作用。植物细胞质化石研究把古植物学推向一个新的研究层面和方向,促进了与其他学科之间的融合,也把一些新的研究手段引入到了古生物学中。本文回顾植物细胞质化石的研究历程,总结研究成果和经验,并对未来发展趋势进行了展望。

Progress in the study on plant cytoplasm fossils

Plant cytoplasm fossil appears intangible for many palaeontologists. The palaeobotanical practice in the past decades has indicated that plant cytoplasm fossil is a truthful existence. With the improvement of observing technologies, many ultrastructures comparable to those in living plants are being revealed. Sometimes the study on fossil plant cytoplasm can lend critical help to modern biologists on some headache problems. High temperature and wild fire play a key role in the fossilization of plant cytoplasm, and a formerly frequently ignored phenomenon, lightning, is of special importance for the fixation of some ultrastructure in fossil plant cells. The study on plant cytoplasm fossils helps lead palaeobotany onto a new level, promotes its fusion with other scientific disciplines, and also introduces new technologies into palaeontology. This paper reviews the history of plant cytoplasm fossil study, summarizes the achievement and knowledge accumulated so far, and depicts the future development in this field.