Cyanobacteria Evolution Insight from the Fossil Record
Free Radical Biology and Medicine 140 (2019) 206–223 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Free Radical Biology and Medicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/freeradbiomed Cyanobacteria evolution: Insight from the fossil record T ∗ Catherine F. Demoulina, ,1, Yannick J. Laraa,1, Luc Corneta,b, Camille Françoisa, Denis Baurainb, Annick Wilmottec, Emmanuelle J. Javauxa a Early Life Traces & Evolution - Astrobiology, UR ASTROBIOLOGY, Geology Department, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium b Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, InBioS-PhytoSYSTEMS, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium c BCCM/ULC Cyanobacteria Collection, InBioS-CIP, Centre for Protein Engineering, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Cyanobacteria played an important role in the evolution of Early Earth and the biosphere. They are responsible Biosignatures for the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans since the Great Oxidation Event around 2.4 Ga, debatably Cyanobacteria earlier. They are also major primary producers in past and present oceans, and the ancestors of the chloroplast. Evolution Nevertheless, the identification of cyanobacteria in the early fossil record remains ambiguous because the Microfossils morphological criteria commonly used are not always reliable for microfossil interpretation. Recently, new Molecular clocks biosignatures specific to cyanobacteria were proposed. Here, we review the classic and new cyanobacterial Precambrian biosignatures. We also assess the reliability of the previously described cyanobacteria fossil record and the challenges of molecular approaches on modern cyanobacteria. Finally, we suggest possible new calibration points for molecular clocks, and strategies to improve our understanding of the timing and pattern of the evolution of cyanobacteria and oxygenic photosynthesis. 1. Introduction eukaryote [8,9], and subsequent higher-order endosymbiotic events [10].
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