The biological and geological contingencies for the rise of oxygen on Earth

Falkowski, Paul G.

doi:10.1007/s11120-010-9602-4

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Thus, the ocean surface provided the primary protective shield for early marine organisms by adsorbing the most of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation ( Whitehead et al, 2000 ). The presence of the stratospheric ozone layer in the earlier Cambrian (around 600 million years ago) is thought to have influenced the divergence of multicellular animals, which led to the Cambrian explosion ( Falkowski, 2011 ). The ozone layer served as a protective shield and promoted the colonization of land by higher plants and arthropods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin and Evolution of Enzymes with MIO Prosthetic Group: Microbial Coevolution After the Mass Extinction Event

et al. 2022

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After major mass extinction events, ancient plants and terrestrial vertebrates were faced with various challenges, especially ultraviolet (UV) light. These stresses probably resulted in changes in the biosynthetic pathways, which employed the MIO (3,5-dihydro-5-methylidene-4H-imidazole-4-one)-dependent enzymes (ammonia-lyase and aminomutase), leading to enhanced accumulation of metabolites for defense against UV radiation, pathogens, and microorganisms. Up to now, the origin and evolution of genes from this superfamily have not been extensively studied. In this report, we perform an analysis of the phylogenetic relations between the members of the aromatic amino acid MIO-dependent enzymes (AAM), which demonstrate that they most probably have a common evolutionary origin from ancient bacteria. In early soil environments, numerous bacterial species with tyrosine ammonia-lyase genes (TAL; EC 4.3.1.23) developed tyrosine aminomutase (TAM; EC 5.4.3.6) activity as a side reaction for competing with their neighbors in the community. These genes also evolved into other TAL-like enzymes, such as histidine ammonia-lyase (HAL, EC 4.3.1.3) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL; EC 4.3.1.24), in different bacterial species for metabolite production and accumulation for adaptation to adverse terrestrial environmental conditions. On the other hand, the existence of phenylalanine aminomutase (PAM; EC 5.4.3.10) and phenylalanine/tyrosine ammonia-lyase (PTAL; EC 4.3.1.25) strongly indicates the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between bacteria, fungi, and plants in symbiotic association after acquiring the PAL gene from their ancestor.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin and Evolution of Enzymes with MIO Prosthetic Group: Microbial Coevolution After the Mass Extinction Event

et al. 2022

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“…While the abundance and regulation of subsequent atmospheric O 2 concentrations are contested (e.g., Johnston et al, 2009;Laakso and Schrag, 2014;Cole et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2016;Daines et al, 2017), it is clear that O 2 has remained a significant component of the fluid Earth since the GOE (Lyons et al, 2014). The oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere was enabled by oxygenic photosynthesis developed within Cyanobacteria (e.g., Falkowski, 2011;Shih, 2015) and may have occurred rapidly following the evolution of this metabolism (Ward et al, 2016;Fischer et al, 2016a;Shih et al, 2017;Soo et al, 2017). The presence of O 2 in Earth's atmosphere is therefore tightly coupled to the history of a major and singular biological innovation: oxygenic photosynthesis.…”

Section: O 2 On Earthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…M olecular oxygen (O 2 ) on Earth is produced almost exclusively by oxygenic photosynthesis, which is an evolutionary singularity that evolved only once in Earth's history through the evolution of a complex electron transport chain involving coupling of two independent photosystems (Blankenship and Hartman, 1998;Falkowski, 2011;Fischer et al, 2016a). This invention is thought to be essential for the eventual evolution of complex life on Earth by providing O 2 for aerobic respiration (Nursall, 1959;Berkner and Marshall, 1965;Raff and Raff, 1970;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Follow the Oxygen: Comparative Histories of Planetary Oxygenation and Opportunities for Aerobic Life

et al. 2019

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Aerobic respiration-the reduction of molecular oxygen (O 2) coupled to the oxidation of reduced compounds such as organic carbon, ferrous iron, reduced sulfur compounds, or molecular hydrogen while conserving energy to drive cellular processes-is the most widespread and bioenergetically favorable metabolism on Earth today. Aerobic respiration is essential for the development of complex multicellular life; thus the presence of abundant O 2 is an important metric for planetary habitability. O 2 on Earth is supplied by oxygenic photosynthesis, but it is becoming more widely understood that abiotic processes may supply meaningful amounts of O 2 on other worlds. The modern atmosphere and rock record of Mars suggest a history of relatively high O 2 as a result of photochemical processes, potentially overlapping with the range of O 2 concentrations used by biology. Europa may have accumulated high O 2 concentrations in its subsurface ocean due to the radiolysis of water ice at its surface. Recent modeling efforts suggest that coexisting water and O 2 may be common on exoplanets, with confirmation from measurements of exoplanet atmospheres potentially coming soon. In all these cases, O 2 accumulates through abiotic processes-independent of water-oxidizing photosynthesis. We hypothesize that abiogenic O 2 may enhance the habitability of some planetary environments, allowing highly energetic aerobic respiration and potentially even the development of complex multicellular life which depends on it, without the need to first evolve oxygenic photosynthesis. This hypothesis is testable with further exploration and life-detection efforts on O 2-rich worlds such as Mars and Europa, and comparison to O 2-poor worlds such as Enceladus. This hypothesis further suggests a new dimension to planetary habitability: ''Follow the Oxygen,'' in which environments with opportunities for energy-rich metabolisms such as aerobic respiration are preferentially targeted for investigation and life detection.

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“…Organisms obtain energy by reducing CO 2 using a series of electrons donors through oxi-reduction reactions involving a series of major elements, like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. In this process, the organisms promote the cycling of major elements coupled with major tectonic events mentioned above, characterizing the major BIO-GEO-chemical cycles of the planet (Falkowski 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The co-evolution of life and biogeochemical cycles in our planet

Martinelli

Augusto

2022

Biota Neotrop.

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The Earth has undergone numerous geological and biological changes over billions of years. The evolution of plants and animals had a direct relationship with the elements’ changes in the atmosphere and the development of the biogeochemical cycles on Earth. The Anthropocene is the age of the Homo sapiens leaves its geological signature on the planet. Human domination and/or interference in the biogeochemical cycles results in an environmental change that affects not only ecosystems, in general, but also the biota and global biodiversity. In this way, we are creating another mass extinction event, the “sixth extinction wave” as well as transforming the ecosystems’ functions and services.

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The biological and geological contingencies for the rise of oxygen on Earth

Cited by 13 publications

References 17 publications

Origin and Evolution of Enzymes with MIO Prosthetic Group: Microbial Coevolution After the Mass Extinction Event

Origin and Evolution of Enzymes with MIO Prosthetic Group: Microbial Coevolution After the Mass Extinction Event

Follow the Oxygen: Comparative Histories of Planetary Oxygenation and Opportunities for Aerobic Life

The co-evolution of life and biogeochemical cycles in our planet

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