Chemical and microscopic characterization of inner seed coats of fossil water plants

Abstract

Inner seed coat layers (tegmens) of four different species of fossil water plants have been analyzed using light microscopy, scanning- and transmission-electron microscopy, and Curie-point pyrolysis. Microscopical analysis of the tegmens show two layers both comparable with a cuticle. Furthermore, the pyrolysates revealed the presence of highly aliphatic macromolecules comparable with cutan. The resistant constituents in the tegmens of two of the species also contained tocopheryl units which may serve as an additional source for prist-1-ene in pyrolysates of kerogens or of pristane upon natural thermodegradation.