Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (1): add | show Print this page

one publication added to basket [323012]
Cyanobacteria evolution: insight from the fossil record
Demoulin, C.F.; Lara, Y.J.; Cornet, L.; François, C.; Baurain, D.; Wilmotte, A.; Javaux, E.J. (2019). Cyanobacteria evolution: insight from the fossil record. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 140: 206-223. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.05.007
In: Free Radical Biology and Medicine. Elsevier: New York; Oxford. ISSN 0891-5849; e-ISSN 1873-4596, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Cyanobacteria [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Biosignatures; Cyanobacteria; Evolution; Microfossils; Molecular clocks;Precambrian

Authors  Top 

Abstract
    Cyanobacteria played an important role in the evolution of Early Earth and the biosphere. They are responsible for the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans since the Great Oxidation Event around 2.4 Ga, debatably earlier. They are also major primary producers in past and present oceans, and the ancestors of the chloroplast. Nevertheless, the identification of cyanobacteria in the early fossil record remains ambiguous because the morphological criteria commonly used are not always reliable for microfossil interpretation. Recently, new biosignatures specific to cyanobacteria were proposed. Here, we review the classic and new cyanobacterial 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.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors