The late rise of the eukaryotic crown is a lost world of complex life

A paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the 1.3 Ga Velkerri Formation, Northern Australia: A new view of early life from a paleobiogeochemical perspective

Jarrett, A. J. M. et al. Microbial assemblage and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the 1.3 Ga Velkerri Formation, McArthur Basin, northern Australia. Geobiology 17, 360–380 (2019).

Analysis of fat-like molecules isolated from the rocks suggests that they were made by a previously undiscovered, ancient population of organisms called eukaryotes, the group of living things whose cells typically contain a nucleus and other internal compartments. The molecules are 1.6 billion years old and hint that eukaryotes were abundant and widespread much longer ago than earlier biochemical evidence had suggested.

But Andrew Roger, who studies comparative genomics and the evolution of eukaryotes at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, notes that fossilized red and green algae dating back one billion years look remarkably similar to living algae, and probably made modern sterols. It would make sense that modern sterols should be found in rocks that are more than 800 million years old. He says that the finding raises as many questions as it answers.

Another possibility, however, was that researchers were looking for the wrong molecules. The University of Bremen in Germany, Jochen Brocks, a palaeobiogeochemist at the Australian National University in Canberra, and Benjamin Nettersheim decided to focus on short-lived molecules that modernity makes while synthesizing sterol. The end product for primeval eukaryotes could have been the modern intermediates.

But the team’s approach — using hypotheses about the evolution of biosynthetic pathways to guide the search for ancient life — could reveal more about early life, she adds. Porter says that it’s thinking about the records from an evolutionary perspective. “And I think that’s needed.”

Although there are reasons to believe that the Protosterols were churned out by humans, the researchers have not yet been able to rule out the possibility that they were made by ancient germs according to a paleontologist.

Porter, S. M., Meisterfeld, R. & Knoll, A. H. Vase-shaped microfossils from the Neoproterozoic Chuar Group, Grand Canyon: a classification guided by modern testate amoebae. The J. Paleontol was published in 2003

Micro-ablation: A new method to search for early life in the Roper Group. Org. Geochem. 61, 57-65 (2013)

A new technique called micro-ablation removes drilling fluids and other contaminants from fragmented and fissile rock material. Org. Geochem. 61, 57–65 (2013).

Grantham, P. J. & Wakefield, L. L. Variations in the sterane carbon number distributions of marine source rock derived crude oils through geological time. It is an organization that has its head turned. A chemical found in the earth. 12, 61–73 (1988).

Schinteie, R. Impact of drill core contamination on compound-specific carbon and hydrogen isotopic signatures. Org. Geochem. 128, 1691.

Nguyen, K. et al. Evidence for early life from the Roper Group has been missing. Searching across a marine redox gradient in mid-Proterozoic habitability. There are 17 volumes of biology published this year.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06170-w

A review of Syngeneity in Branched Alkanes, Quaternary Carbon and Tetracyclic Polyprenoids

Brocks, Grosjean and G. A. evaluated syngeneity using branched alkanes and quaternary carbon. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 72, 871–888 (2008).

The ion source interaction causes the tailing ofchromatographic peaks in GC–MS. J. Chromatogr. Sci. 52, 471–475 (2014).

Holba, A. G. Application of tetracyclic polyprenoids as indicators of input from fresh-brackish water environments. Org. Geochem. 34, 441–469 (2003).

Mentel, M. & Martin, W. Energy metabolism among eukaryotic anaerobes in light of Proterozoic ocean chemistry. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 363, 2717–2729 (2008).

Brocks, J. J. Early sponges and toxic protists: possible sources of cryostane, an age diagnostic biomarker antedating Sturtian Snowball Earth. The 16th edition of anthropology,geobiology 14, 129–149

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06170-w

Phylogenomics of sterol synthesis in the last eukaryotic common ancestor: A new approach to phenomenology and complexity

The origin, evolution, and diversity of a key feature of the eukaryotic system were explored through phylogenomics of sterol synthesis. Genome Biol. The evol. 1 covered 2009.

Dupont, S., Beney, L., Ferreira, T. & Gervais, P. Nature of sterols affects plasma membrane behavior and yeast survival during dehydration. Biochim. The human body is termed a biophys. The chapter was published in the year 2011)

V. L., Koumanou, and other authors published a book. Molecular paleontology and complexity in the last eukaryotic common ancestor. Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 48, 373–396 (2013).

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06170-w

Electromagnetic endocytosis: Photoheterophysis in Palaeoproterochromatic Chlorbia

Anderson, R. H. clathrin-mediated endocytosis can be achieved by lowering the energetic barriers of the membrane. Cell Rep. 37, 110008 (2021).

The evidence of photoheterotrophy is found in Palaeoproterochromatic Chlorbia. The Preprint can be found at Research Square. The year 2023.

Summons, R. E. et al. Distinctive hydrocarbon biomarkers from fossiliferous sediments of the Late Proterozoic Walcott Member, Chuar Group, Grand Canyon, Arizona. The word is referred to as the “geochim.” There is a person named cosmochim. Acta 52, 2625–2637 (1988).

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06170-w

Lipid taphonomy and the evolution of bacterial synthesis in the Proterozoic and the Chuar Group in the Grand Canyon

The impact on eukaryogenesis was explained by the evolution of bacterial steroid synthesis. Proc. The National Acad. is the Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2101276118 (2021).

Pawlowska, M. M., Butterfield, N. J. & Brocks, J. J. Lipid taphonomy in the Proterozoic and the effect of microbial mats on biomarker preservation. Geology 41, 103–106 (2013).

The Chuar Group in the Grand Canyon contains microfossils of amoebae that were found in the Neoproterozoic Era. Paleobiology 26, 360–385 (2000).

Butterfield, N. J. Bangiomorpha pubescens n. gen., n. sp.: implications for the evolution of sex, multicellularity, and the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic radiation of eukaryotes. The Paleobiology was published in 2000.

Gueneli, N. et al. The porphyrins established a marine environment dominated by thebacterial primary producers. Proc. National Acad. Sci. USA 115, E6978–E6986 (2018).