Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The burial of organic carbon, which prevents its remineralization via oxygen-consuming processes, is considered one of the causes of Earth’s oxygenation. Yet, higher levels of oxygen are thought to inhibit burial. Here we propose a resolutio...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148095 |
| _version_ | 1826200815513108480 |
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| author | Shang, Haitao Rothman, Daniel H Fournier, Gregory P |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Shang, Haitao Rothman, Daniel H Fournier, Gregory P |
| author_sort | Shang, Haitao |
| collection | MIT |
| description | <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The burial of organic carbon, which prevents its remineralization via oxygen-consuming processes, is considered one of the causes of Earth’s oxygenation. Yet, higher levels of oxygen are thought to inhibit burial. Here we propose a resolution of this conundrum, wherein Earth’s initial oxygenation is favored by oxidative metabolisms generating partially oxidized organic matter (POOM), increasing burial via interaction with minerals in sediments. First, we introduce the POOM hypothesis via a mathematical argument. Second, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of one key enzyme family, flavin-dependent Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases, that generates POOM, and show the temporal consistency of its diversification with the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic atmospheric oxygenation. Finally, we propose that the expansion of oxidative metabolisms instigated a positive feedback, which was amplified by the chemical changes to minerals on Earth’s surface. Collectively, these results suggest that Earth’s oxygenation is an autocatalytic transition induced by a combination of biological innovations and geological changes.</jats:p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:42:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/148095 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:42:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1480952023-02-17T03:28:45Z Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation Shang, Haitao Rothman, Daniel H Fournier, Gregory P Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The burial of organic carbon, which prevents its remineralization via oxygen-consuming processes, is considered one of the causes of Earth’s oxygenation. Yet, higher levels of oxygen are thought to inhibit burial. Here we propose a resolution of this conundrum, wherein Earth’s initial oxygenation is favored by oxidative metabolisms generating partially oxidized organic matter (POOM), increasing burial via interaction with minerals in sediments. First, we introduce the POOM hypothesis via a mathematical argument. Second, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of one key enzyme family, flavin-dependent Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases, that generates POOM, and show the temporal consistency of its diversification with the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic atmospheric oxygenation. Finally, we propose that the expansion of oxidative metabolisms instigated a positive feedback, which was amplified by the chemical changes to minerals on Earth’s surface. Collectively, these results suggest that Earth’s oxygenation is an autocatalytic transition induced by a combination of biological innovations and geological changes.</jats:p> 2023-02-16T17:18:05Z 2023-02-16T17:18:05Z 2022 2023-02-16T14:38:29Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148095 Shang, Haitao, Rothman, Daniel H and Fournier, Gregory P. 2022. "Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation." Nature Communications, 13 (1). en 10.1038/S41467-022-28996-0 Nature Communications Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC Nature |
| spellingShingle | Shang, Haitao Rothman, Daniel H Fournier, Gregory P Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation |
| title | Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation |
| title_full | Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation |
| title_fullStr | Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation |
| title_short | Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation |
| title_sort | oxidative metabolisms catalyzed earth s oxygenation |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148095 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shanghaitao oxidativemetabolismscatalyzedearthsoxygenation AT rothmandanielh oxidativemetabolismscatalyzedearthsoxygenation AT fourniergregoryp oxidativemetabolismscatalyzedearthsoxygenation |