Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record
Some modern filamentous oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria) form macroscopic tufts, laminated cones and ridges that are very similar to some Archean and Proterozoic stromatolites. However, it remains unclear whether microbes that constructed Archean clumps, tufts, cones and ridges also...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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MDPI AG
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85544 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5179-5323 |
| _version_ | 1811075655121502208 |
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| author | Sim, Min Sub Liang, Biqing Petroff, Alexander P. Evans, Alex J. Klepac-Ceraj, Vanja Flannery, David T. Walter, Malcolm R. Bosak, Tanja |
| 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 Sim, Min Sub Liang, Biqing Petroff, Alexander P. Evans, Alex J. Klepac-Ceraj, Vanja Flannery, David T. Walter, Malcolm R. Bosak, Tanja |
| author_sort | Sim, Min Sub |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Some modern filamentous oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria) form macroscopic tufts, laminated cones and ridges that are very similar to some Archean and Proterozoic stromatolites. However, it remains unclear whether microbes that constructed Archean clumps, tufts, cones and ridges also produced oxygen. Here, we address this question by examining the physiology of cyanobacterial clumps, aggregates ~0.5 mm in diameter that initiate the growth of modern mm- and cm-scale cones. Clumps contain more particulate organic carbon in the form of denser, bowed and bent cyanobacterial filaments, abandoned sheaths and non-cyanobacterial cells relative to the surrounding areas. Increasing concentrations of oxygen in the solution enhance the bending of filaments and the persistence of clumps by reducing the lateral migration of filaments away from clumps. Clumped mats in oxic media also release less glycolate, a soluble photorespiration product, and retain a larger pool of carbon in the mat. Clumping thus benefits filamentous mat builders whose incorporation of inorganic carbon is sensitive to oxygen. The morphogenetic sequence of mm-scale clumps, reticulate ridges and conical stromatolites from the 2.7 Ga Tumbiana Formation likely records similar O2-dependent behaviors, preserving currently the oldest morphological signature of oxygenated environments on Early Earth. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:09:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/85544 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:09:52Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/855442022-09-26T16:07:23Z Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record Sim, Min Sub Liang, Biqing Petroff, Alexander P. Evans, Alex J. Klepac-Ceraj, Vanja Flannery, David T. Walter, Malcolm R. Bosak, Tanja Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Sim, Min Sub Liang, Biqing Petroff, Alexander P. Evans, Alex J. Bosak, Tanja Some modern filamentous oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria) form macroscopic tufts, laminated cones and ridges that are very similar to some Archean and Proterozoic stromatolites. However, it remains unclear whether microbes that constructed Archean clumps, tufts, cones and ridges also produced oxygen. Here, we address this question by examining the physiology of cyanobacterial clumps, aggregates ~0.5 mm in diameter that initiate the growth of modern mm- and cm-scale cones. Clumps contain more particulate organic carbon in the form of denser, bowed and bent cyanobacterial filaments, abandoned sheaths and non-cyanobacterial cells relative to the surrounding areas. Increasing concentrations of oxygen in the solution enhance the bending of filaments and the persistence of clumps by reducing the lateral migration of filaments away from clumps. Clumped mats in oxic media also release less glycolate, a soluble photorespiration product, and retain a larger pool of carbon in the mat. Clumping thus benefits filamentous mat builders whose incorporation of inorganic carbon is sensitive to oxygen. The morphogenetic sequence of mm-scale clumps, reticulate ridges and conical stromatolites from the 2.7 Ga Tumbiana Formation likely records similar O2-dependent behaviors, preserving currently the oldest morphological signature of oxygenated environments on Early Earth. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Astrobiology Institute NNA08CN84A) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (EAR-0843358) 2014-03-06T18:44:44Z 2014-03-06T18:44:44Z 2012-10 2012-09 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2076-3263 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85544 Sim, Min Sub, Biqing Liang, Alexander P. Petroff, Alexander Evans, Vanja Klepac-Ceraj, David T. Flannery, Malcolm R. Walter, and Tanja Bosak. “Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record.” Geosciences 2, no. 4 (October 11, 2012): 235–259. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5179-5323 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/geosciences2040235 Geosciences Creative Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ application/pdf MDPI AG MDPI |
| spellingShingle | Sim, Min Sub Liang, Biqing Petroff, Alexander P. Evans, Alex J. Klepac-Ceraj, Vanja Flannery, David T. Walter, Malcolm R. Bosak, Tanja Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record |
| title | Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record |
| title_full | Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record |
| title_fullStr | Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record |
| title_short | Oxygen-Dependent Morphogenesis of Modern Clumped Photosynthetic Mats and Implications for the Archean Stromatolite Record |
| title_sort | oxygen dependent morphogenesis of modern clumped photosynthetic mats and implications for the archean stromatolite record |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85544 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5179-5323 |
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