Parkinson's disease (PD) is a condition of neurodegeneration characterised by the decreased levels of dopaminergic neurons. Some of the physical issues with PD include resting tremors, stiffness, bradykinesia or akinesia, instability, and freezing. Damage to the brain's SN and other regions is present in PD. Reactive oxygen species are important and oxidative stress may be related to the disorder (ROS). There are active components in many herbal treatments that have been found to have antioxidant benefits. Therefore, the importance of herbal remedies in the management of PD cannot be undermind. The major goal of the current review is to examining the Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis (PD) and describes function of several potential herbal extracts on its pathogenesis, which may serve as the foundation for treatment. We also go into the chemical components that are present in each herb and useful in treating Parkinson's disease. These herbs are Mucuna pruriens (MP, kapikacchu), Centella asiatica (CA, Mandookaparni), Bacopa monnieri (BM, Brahmi), Cinnamomum verum (CV, cinnamon), Sida cordifolia (SC, bala), Juglandis semen (JS, walnut), Camellia sinens (CS, green tea), Curcuma longa (CL, turmeric), Withania somnifera (PL, kudzu). Future drug development for the successful treatment of PD may benefit from the findings of the current review.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects a huge proportion of population worldwide. TBI is the most common epigenetic health risk for neurological illness later in life. Different post-injury mechanisms may contribute to neurodegeneration. Thus, it is associated with a greater risk of neurodegenerative diseases for instance Parkinson’s disease (PD), depression, epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Objective: The present study encapsulates the neurodegenerative effects trigged by TBI. Therefore, understanding of such triggers may be helpful in prediction, early diagnosis or the management of neurodegenerative diseases in patients who had TBI. Further, understanding of TBI-induced neuronal damage may provide better knowledge for drug development, disease management, and check of induction and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Conclusion: Several approaches show a strong correlation between TBI secondary injury and various neurodegenerative diseases involving oxidative stress and numerous neuroinflammationdiseases. It appears that oxidative stress plays a crucial role in both TBI and neurodegeneration by causing neuroinflammation and glutamatergicexcitotoxicity.

Landfilling is the globally adopted, low cost approach for disposing municipal solid waste. Landfilling contributes to environmental deterioration due to the emission of landfill gases especially methane (CH4), and release of hazardous organic and inorganic substances in the form of landfill leachate (LL). Proliferation of LL in the environment degrades the quality of soil, groundwater and surface water body (if any) and thus needs to be contained and treated before discharge. A wide range of treatment methods have been used for minimizing the contaminant load of LL. Nowadays stakeholders are moving towards more sustainable waste management practices and are utilizing waste as a resource to produce energy, fuel and other value-added products. However, unfortunately, the energy valorization from LL is lacking and it can fascinate global researchers for the treatment of LL with renewable energy production. Therefore in this study, we reviewed (1) the quality of LL generated from landfilling and its impact on the environment, (2) The energy valorization such as biogas, biological hydrogen, and bio-energy from LL through anaerobic digestion, dark fermentation, and Microbial Fuel Cells, respectively, and (3) Challenges and future prospects of energy valorization from LL. The resources present in leachate such as the organic matter, inorganic substances, and nutrients like N&P, can be converted to energy, and other value-added resources through valorization. LL valorisation can be a potential solution not only to reduce the contaminant load from the natural resources (air, water and soil) but also to utilize the energy resources in the form of either electricity and/or heat and serve as a potential alternative to non-renewable energy. Beside this, the other advantages of valorisation include amelioration of waste malodours and environmental pollution, and reduction of waste volume etc.

The primary goal of developing novel formulations is to effectively deliver the drug the at the target site. A desirable, non-invasive method of enhancing medication penetration or delivering innovative drug or gene carriers into the brain is nose-to-brain administration. The main benefit of intranasal medication administration is that it avoids the blood-brain barrier and targets drug molecules directly to the brain. Due to their difficulty in crossing the blood-brain barrier, big molecular weight and hydrophilic compounds can also be transported to the brain by this drug delivery channel. By speeding the administration of treatments at the target site and preventing systemic adverse effects, intranasal delivery to the brain is helpful in treating many neurological disorders. Potential drug delivery systems, the drug-encapsulated polymeric nanoparticles can convey a sizable amount of medication from the nose to brain. The advantages of polymeric nanoparticles-mediated nose to brain targeting are discussed in this paper. Additionally, it provides an overview of the polymeric nanoparticles studied for the therapy of various brain disorders as well as the process of nanoparticle transport.

The mechanism of protein degradation has remained a topic of debate (specifically concerning their preservation in deep time), which has recently been invigorated due to multiple published reports of preservation ranging from Miocene to the Triassic that potentially challenge the convention that protein preservation beyond the Cenozoic is extremely uncommon or is expected to be absent altogether, and thus have attracted skepticism. In this paper, we analyze fossil fish scales from the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic using comprehensive pyrolysis gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry and compare the pyrolytic products so obtained with a well-preserved fish scale from Late Pliocene, in an attempt to better understand the effects of diagenesis on protein degradation at the molecular level through deep time. We find that the Pliocene fish scale displays a large number of N-bearing pyrolytic products, including abundant substituted cyclic 2,5-diketopiperazines (2,5-DKPs) which are diagnostic products of peptide and amino acid pyrolysis. We identify N-bearing compounds in the Mesozoic fish scales-however, among the 2,5-DKPs that were identified in the Pliocene scale, only diketodipyrrole (or cyclo (Pyr-Pyr)) is present in the Mesozoic scales. We discuss the implications of N-bearing pyrolytic products with emphasis on 2,5-DKPs in geological samples and conclude that the discrepancy in abundance and variety of N-bearing products between Pliocene and Mesozoic scales indicates that the protein component in the latter has been extensively diagenetically altered, while a suite of DKPs such as in the former would imply stronger evidence to indicate preservation of protein. We conclude that analytical pyrolysis is an effective tool for detecting preservation of intact proteins, as well as for providing insights into their degradation mechanisms, and can potentially be utilized to assign proteinaceous origin to a fossil sample of unknown affinity.

Members of the phylum "Candidatus Nanohaloarchaeota," a representative lineage within the DPANN superphylum, are characterized by their nanosized cells and symbiotic lifestyle with Halobacteria. However, the development of the symbiosis remains unclear. Here, we propose two novel families, "Candidatus Nanoanaerosalinaceae" and "Candidatus Nanohalalkaliarchaeaceae" in "Ca. Nanohaloarchaeota," represented by five dereplicated metagenome-assembled genomes obtained from hypersaline sediments or related enrichment cultures of soda-saline lakes. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the two novel families are placed at the root of the family "Candidatus Nanosalinaceae," including the cultivated taxa. The two novel families prefer hypersaline sediments, and the acid shift of predicted proteomes indicates a "salt-in" strategy for hypersaline adaptation. They contain a lower proportion of putative horizontal gene transfers from Halobacteria than "Ca. Nanosalinaceae," suggesting a weaker association with Halobacteria. Functional prediction and historical events reconstruction disclose that they exhibit divergent potentials in carbohydrate and organic acid metabolism and environmental responses. Globally, comparative genomic analyses based on the new families enrich the taxonomic and functional diversity of "Ca. Nanohaloarchaeota" and provide insights into the evolutionary process of "Ca. Nanohaloarchaeota" and their symbiotic relationship with Halobacteria. IMPORTANCE The DPANN superphylum is a group of archaea widely distributed in various habitats. They generally have small cells and have a symbiotic lifestyle with other archaea. The archaeal symbiotic interaction is vital to understanding microbial communities. However, the formation and evolution of the symbiosis between the DPANN lineages and other diverse archaea remain unclear. Based on phylogeny, habitat distribution, hypersaline adaptation, host prediction, functional potentials, and historical events of "Ca. Nanohaloarchaeota," a representative phylum within the DPANN superphylum, we report two novel families representing intermediate stages, and we infer the evolutionary process of "Ca. Nanohaloarchaeota" and their Halobacteria-associated symbiosis. Altogether, this research helps in understanding the evolution of symbiosis in "Ca. Nanohaloarchaeota" and provides a model for the evolution of other DPANN lineages.

With the increasing interest in characterization of biopolymers in fossils and their preservation mechanisms, there has been a concomitant increase in reports of preservation of such macromolecules in organic remains of varying ages. However, there have also been several criticisms of these reports involving N-bearing macromolecules such as difficulty in determining endogeneity, and potential for cross-contamination.We explore the utility of pyrolysis comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry as a technique that could potentially provide reproducible data to address some of those criticisms. We find that the enhanced separation capacity of this technique and its ability to resolve complex compounds in low abundances could potentially allow for more specificity in compound assignments. We attempt to understand its diagnostic efficacy by analysing industry standards of chitin and collagen, and a well-documented fossil melanin from Jurassic squid ink. We find that the distribution of nitrogen-bearing compounds in relation to the non-nitrogenous products in each of the above three biomacromolecules is characteristic: acetamide, acetic acid, levoglucosenone and a suite of N-bearing compounds for standard chitin, N-bearing compounds with a distinct region of substituted cyclic 2,5-diketopiperazines (2,5-DKPs) for standard collagen, and a mixture of N-bearing compounds for fossil melanin. We suggest that 3-acetamidofuran and higher homologues, and 3-acetamidopyrones and higher homologues could be reliable markers for N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, of which chitin is a homomer, and that 2,5-DKPs are reliable markers for proteins – particularly collagen, while conceding that assigning a marker purely based on pyrolysis products is difficult for melanin. We then analyse an Eocene mammal bone to make a preliminary investigation into the viability of this technique. We find that the distribution of pyrolysis products is characteristic and distinguishable even in this fossil material, suggesting that proteins like collagen can potentially be detected even when possibly preserved in a degraded form. We conclude that Py-GC×GC-TOFMS is a promising method yielding reliable data that can be used to distinguish between nitrogen-bearing biomacromolecules, possibly even in fossil tissues, and should be the focus of further analyses.

Molecular dating estimates the origin of the fungal clade to the Pre-Cambrian. Yet, the oldest unambiguous fungal fossils date to the Ordovician and show remarkable diversity and organizational development. Recent studies have suggested that the dates for the emergence of fungi in the fossil record may be pushed back to the Proterozoic. However, the nonspecificity of the methods used in those studies necessitates the employment of a wider variety of analytical techniques that can independently verify the presence of chitin, a crucial prerequisite in the assignment of fungal affinity, particularly of putative fossils from the Pre-Cambrian. In this paper, we propose Py-GC × GC-TOFMS as an example of one such technique. We analyze fungal fossils from the Pliocene. We find that a suite of N-bearing compounds are present in the pyrolysis products of these fossils, from which we suggest that 3-acetamidopyrones and their methylated homologues can serve as specific pyrolytic markers for chitin. We discuss both how this technique can potentially be used to differentiate between biopolymers, including those similar to chitin such as peptidoglycan, and the potential implications of identifying such markers in fossils from deep time. We conclude that Py-GC × GC-TOFMS is a promising technique that can potentially be used alongside, or independent of, staining methods to detect the presence of chitin in fossils.

The KTK 4A-related Thermoplasmata thrives in the sediment of saline lakes; however, systematic research on its taxonomy, environmental adaptation and metabolism is lacking. Here, we detected this abundant lineage in the sediment of five artificially separated ponds (salinity 7.0%-33.0%) within a Chinese soda-saline lake using culture-independent metagenomics and archaeal 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The phylogenies based on the 16S rRNA gene, and 122 archaeal ubiquitous single-copy proteins and genome-level identity analyses among the metagenome-assembled genomes demonstrate this lineage forming a novel order, Candidatus Haloplasmatales, comprising four genera affiliated with the identical family. Isoelectric point profiles of predicted proteomes suggest that most members adopt the energetically favourable 'salt-in' strategy. Functional prediction indicates the lithoheterotrophic nature with the versatile metabolic potentials for carbohydrate and organic acids as well as carbon monoxide and hydrogen utilization. Additionally, hydrogenase genes hdrABC-mvhADG are linked with incomplete reductive citrate cycle genes in the genomes, suggesting their functional connection. Comparison with the coupling of HdrABC-MvhADG and methanogenesis pathway provides new insights into the compatibility of laterally acquired methanogenesis with energy metabolism in the related order Methanomassiliicoccales. Globally, our research sheds light on the taxonomy, environmental adaptative mechanisms, metabolic potentials and evolutional significance of Ca. Haloplasmatales.

The evolution and diversification of ancient megathermal angiosperm lineages with Africa-India origins in Asian tropical forests is poorly understood because of the lack of reliable fossils. Our palaeobiogeographical analysis of pollen fossils from Africa and India combined with molecular data and fossil amber records suggest a tropical-African origin of Dipterocarpaceae during the mid-Cretaceous and its dispersal to India during the Late Maastrichtian and Paleocene, leading to range expansion of aseasonal dipterocarps on the Indian Plate. The India-Asia collision further facilitated the dispersal of dipterocarps from India to similar climatic zones in Southeast Asia, which supports their out-of-India migration. The dispersal pathway suggested for Dipterocarpaceae may provide a framework for an alternative biogeographic hypothesis for several megathermal angiosperm families that are presently widely distributed in Southeast Asia.

A haloalkaliphilic strain (IM 1326 T ) was isolated from brine sampled at a soda lake in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Cells of the strain were rod-shaped and motile. Strain IM 1326 T was able to grow at 4–42 °C (optimum, 37 °C) with 0–13.0 % (w/v) NaCl concentrations (optimum at 4.0–6.0 %) and at pH 7.5–11.0 (optimum at 9.0–10.0). The 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolate belongs to the genus Aliidiomarina and is closely related to the type strains of Aliidiomarina sanyensis (95.8 % sequence similarity), Aliidiomarina shirensis (95.7 %), Aliidiomarina iranensis (95.4 %) and Aliidiomarina haloalkalitolerans (95.3 %). The whole genome of strain IM 1326 T was sequenced, and the genomic DNA G+C content was 49.7 mol%. Average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between the isolate and the related Aliidiomarina species were 68.1–84.9 %, 76–78 % and 18.4–20.4 %, respectively. The respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8. The polar lipid profile included diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and one unidentified aminophospholipid. The predominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 9 (10-methyl-C 16 : 0 /iso-C 17 : 1 ω 9 c , 22.2 %), iso-C 15 : 0 (16.1 %) and iso-C 17 : 0 (13.1 %). Based on the results of phylogenetic analysis, genome relatedness, and the physiological and chemotaxonomic properties of the isolate, strain IM 1326 T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Aliidiomarina , for which the name Aliidiomarina halalkaliphila sp. nov. is proposed (type strain IM 1326 T =CGMCC 1.17056 T =JCM 34227 T ).

A novel Gram-stain-negative bacterium, designated as IM2376T, was isolated from the sediment of Hutong Qagan Lake in the Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the strain IM2376T had the highest similarity with Roseinatronobacter thiooxidans DSM 13087T (96.2%) and Rhodobaca bogoriensis LBB1T (96.2%) of the family Rhodobacteraceae. Genomic relatedness analyses showed that strain IM2376T was clearly distinguished from other species in the family Rhodobacteraceae, with average nucleotide identities, average amino acid identities, and in silico DNA–DNA hybridization values not more than 74.1, 68.5, and 20.2%, respectively. The fatty acids were mainly composed of C18:1ω7c (64.9%), iso-C16:0 (16.3%), and C16: 1ω7c/C16:1ω6c (6.0%). The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylcholine. The predominant ubiquinone was Q-10 (94.9%). The genomic DNA G + C content was 66 mol%. Based on all these results, strain IM2376T was considered a novel species of a new genus in the family Rhodobacteraceae, for which the name Rhabdonatronobacter sediminivivens gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Rhabdonatronobacter sediminivivens is IM2376T (= CGMCC 1.17852T = KCTC 92134T).

The documentation of proteinaceous soft tissues in fossils from deep time remains controversial. Often this has been attributed to the laboratory or other modes of modern contamination. Here we provide incontrovertible evidence for the preservation of proteinaceous moieties in Maastrichtian dinosaur eggshell using pyrolysis‐GC×GC‐TOFMS. The presence of nitrogen‐bearing organic molecules along with diketodipyrrole suggests that the proteinaceous moieties can survive diagenesis. The preservation of these proteinaceous moieties has been attributed to deposition in a palustrine flat environment under subaerial conditions and entrapment of organic material by the eggshell calcitic units. The present study demonstrates that the preservation of nitrogen‐bearing macromolecules in Mesozoic fossil remains is not impossible provided that the depositional environments and diagenetic processes are propitious. The survival of nitrogen‐bearing macromolecules in deep time under subaerial depositional settings will open a new avenue of research on soft tissue preservation.

Conventional one-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been employed for the organic compound analysis since the 1960s. In traditional GC-MS analysis, co-elution can be intense in the chromatographic region occupied by triterpenoids and aromatic steroids and these can form an unresolved complex mixture (UCM) in the total ion chromatogram (TIC). The UCM in routine GC-MS analysis alters the baseline and adds a substantial noise to mass spectra. Here we demonstrate that comprehensive GC x GC-TOFMS with higher peak capacity helps in an improved characterisation of aromatic hydrocarbon biomarkers by resolving many individual peaks. The use of GC x GC-TOFMS achieved exceptional chromatographic separation of higher plant triterpenoids, triaromatic steroids and methylated 2-methyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl) chromans (MTTC) in a complex aromatic fraction of a Cenozoic crude oil from the Tarapur field of the Cambay Basin. Compounds (e.g., des-A-arbora-5,7,9-triene) having scarce abundance that could not be detected with 1D GC-MS analysis were identified by GC x GC-TOFMS. Thus, this approach offers a new avenue to palaeobiological studies, hydrocarbon exploration and evaluation of the distinct palaeodepositonal environments of organic matter.

The Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction (PTME) event was the largest bio crisis to date, adversely affecting life on land and sea. The PTME event is evidenced in India by the destruction of glossopterids with immense loss of peatforming vegetation, its replacement by stress-tolerant lycopsids, Lilliput Effect and the presence of numerous acritarchs and abnormal pollen grains. However, there are no reports for algal or acritarch spikes. We document, for the first time, an acritarch spike in the Indian subcontinent from the uppermost Permian to Lower Triassic sequence from the Pranhita-Godavari (P-G) Basin. Lithostratigraphically, the late Permian and Early Triassic aged deposits in the P-G basin are designated as the Kamthi Formation. The formation has a very rich and diverse assemblage of pollen grains, spores and acritarchs. Based on a palynological study, an abundance of Leiosphaeridia dessicata comb. nov. emend. has been identified from sediment samples from the two bore cores (MCP-7 and MCP-8) of the Chintalapudi sub-basin, P-G basin. The acritarch appearance and abundance occurred in synchronization with the floral shift. The acritarch appears along with the stress-tolerant lycopsid spores in the uppermost Permian assemblage and increases in accordance with lycopsid spores in the Lower Triassic assemblages. The morphology of Leiosphaeridia dessicata comb. nov. emend. relates its close affinity with an extant marine algal cyst of Acetabularia acetabulum. Moreover, the presence of gammacerane and methylate chromans in the host sediment indicates the hypersaline water column during the deposition. Thus, based on the presence of marine and hypersaline biomarkers and affinity of L. dessicata comb. nov. emend. with marine alga (probably Prasinophyceae or Chlorophyceae) infer that the deposition during the uppermost Permian and Lower Triassic occurred under shallow marine conditions, contradictory to the earlier belief that Indian Upper Permian and Triassic deposits are entirely terrestrial. The possible marine incursion in the P-G basin may have occurred from the eastern continental margin along western Australia or through a passage between the Indian southern margin and the west margin of Antarctica.

The biomarker distributions of crude oils are a valuable and complementary tool for understanding the provenance of source organic matter (OM) in intracratonic rift basins such as the Cambay Basin, India, which has five tectonic blocks from north to south. Distinctive biomarkers recorded in Cambay oils included tetrapolyprenoids, C29 28-nor-spergulane, diaryl isoprenoids and methylated chromans. Other diagnostic markers including oleanane, A-ring degraded hexanortriterpanes, bicadinanes and aromatic oleanoid/ursanoid triterpenoids, suggest substantial inputs to the OM from tropical angiosperm families. The biomarker distributions and various plots of the data, including a principal component analysis, indicate two distinct OM facies present in the basin. The depositional environment of the source OM that prevailed in the north blocks (NB) and south blocks (SB) of the basin are different, despite similar ages and geography. The results suggest that the NB oils were generated from mixed algal/microbial and higher plant-derived organic biomasses, deposited in suboxic to anoxic conditions, probably in a restricted marine or lacustrine environment. Contrarily, the oils of SB were generated from OM substantially derived from tropical lowland angiosperm rainforest trees, which were deposited under a fluvio-deltaic environment with a suboxic to oxic setting. The various maturity parameters reveal that northern oils are marginally less mature than the southern oils.

The late Neoproterozoic marine succession (Marwar Supergroup) deposited in the Bikaner-Nagaur Basin in western India is an excellent provenance to study steroid biomarkers. Traditional one-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and metastable reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions have been previously employed for routine biomarker analyses of crude oils and sediments. The present study with GCxGC-TOFMS (time-of-flight mass spectrometer) demonstrates an improved distribution of the sterane compounds segregated from the co-eluting n-alkanes, cycloalkanes and triterpanes in terminal Proterozoic crude oils. The steranes identified here offer novel insights into the molecular taphonomic alteration of eukaryotic lipids during the late Neoproterozoic. The presence of lanostane and 3b alkyl steranes is probably indicative of a depositional environment stressed by high salinity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the oldest known record of lanostane steroids found in the geosphere. Secosteranes with an open C-ring form as a result of diagenetic cleaving of carbon-carbon bonds. The concomitant presence of 2a-, 3b - and 4a-methyl steranes (A-ring methylated steranes) reflects specific biological input and a distinct palaeo-depositonal environment. The 3b - and 2a-methyl steranes probably form by migration of methyl substituents within the steroid structure. The recognition of a diverse range of steroid compounds by GCxGC-TOFMS advocates its excellent analytical potential in the study of natural products in geological samples. Hence, this state-of-the-art technology will be worth using for reevaluating and investigating hydrocarbon biomarkers in order to minimize the gaps that exist in the understanding of biotic evolution over geological time scales. (C) 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Microorganisms play an essential role in sulfide removal. Alkaline absorption solution facilitates the sulfide’s dissolution and oxidative degradation, so haloalkaliphile is a prospective source for environmental-friendly and cost-effective biodesulfurization. In this research, 484 sulfide oxidation genes were identified from the metagenomes of the soda-saline lakes and a haloalkaliphilic heterotrophic bacterium Halomonas salifodinae IM328 (=CGMCC 22183) was isolated from the same habitat as the host for expression of a representative sequence. The genetic manipulation was successfully achieved through the conjugation transformation method, and sulfide: quinone oxidoreductase gene ( sqr ) was expressed via pBBR1MCS derivative plasmid. Furthermore, a whole-cell catalyst system was developed by using the engineered strain that exhibited a higher rate of sulfide oxidation under the optimal alkaline pH of 9.0. The whole-cell catalyst could be recycled six times to maintain the sulfide oxidation rates from 41.451 to 80.216 µmol·min −1 ·g −1 dry cell mass. To summarize, a whole-cell catalyst system based on the engineered haloalkaliphilic bacterium is potentiated to be applied in the sulfide treatment at a reduced cost.

In recent times, the limits of traditional Py-GC-MS techniques in evaluating the macromolecular compositions of biopolymers have proved to be more apparent - particularly in those samples containing complex, structurally similar organic molecules, often producing large areas of unresolved complex mixtures (UCM). In this paper, we compare the use of pyrolysis comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Py-GCxGC-TOFMS) with conventional Py-GC-MS analyses and attempt to showcase the full potential of this technique by analyzing different fossil organic materials - algal-derived Tasmanites, Ordovician microfossil Gloeocapsomorpha prisca and terrestrial plant-derived resin. With all three fossil samples, Py-GCxGC-TOFMS was able to offer a higher degree of compound separation and detection of more complex compounds. Sulphur and oxygen-bearing polar compounds were clearly separated into different homologous series. Thus, this method bypassed the problem created by the UCMs in traditional Py-GC-MS in the case of G. prisca and Tasmanites, while resolving several biomarkers in the case of the resin which aided chemotaxonomic classification. We find that Py-GCxGC-TOFMS provides a greater variety of compounds at enhanced resolution levels than conventional Py-GC-MS methods and is more suited to analyzing samples with larger variety of chemical structures and functional groups with greater confidence, particularly in unknown samples. It can thus provide the analytical capability to better characterize the chemistry of kerogens, which will help in assessments of hydrocarbon source properties and may provide new avenues to interpretation in paleobiological studies. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.