Microbial Evolution and Genome
Dynamics
Lecture 13.1
Origin of Earth and Cellular Life
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CONTENTS CHAPTER 13
LECTURES
Early Earth and the origin and 13.1 and 13.2
Diversification of Life
Mechanisms of Microbial Evolution 13.3
Microbial Phylogeny and Systematics 13.4
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CONTENTS Lecture 13.1
• Origin of earth– p 429
• Origin of Cellular Life – p 430
• The last Universal Common Ancestor – p 431
• Photosynthesis and the Oxidation of Earth – p 432
• The rise of oxygen-banded iron formations – p 433
• Ozone shield – p 434
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Origin of Earth
• The Earth formed ~4.5 billion years ago (based on slowly decaying
radioactive isotope analyses)
• [Link]
Formation and Early History of Earth
• The Earth is ~4.5 billion years old
• First evidence for microbial life can be
found in rocks ~3.86 billion years old
Origin of Cellular Life
• Greatest of mysteries
• Organic building blocks of cells can form spontaneously under certain
conditions
• Conditions on surface of early earth too hostile for “life as we know it”
• Extremely hot temperatures
• High UV radiation
• Subsurface origin hypothesis
Subsurface Origin Hypothesis
• Life originated at hydrothermal vents on ocean floor
• [Link]
• Conditions more stable
• Steady and abundant supply of energy (e.g., H2 and H2S)
• Allow formation of organic molecules
• Form compartments needed for energy conservation
Origin of Cellular Life
• Prebiotic chemistry set stage for
self-replicating systems
• RNA world
• RNA can bind small molecules
(e.g., ATP, other nucleotides,
amino acids) catalysing synthesis
of primitive proteins
• RNA has catalytic activity; may
have catalyzed its own synthesis
• As different proteins were made and
accumulated, they coated the inner
surfaces of the hydrothermal
mounds
• As different types of proteins
emerged, they took over the
catalytic role of RNA
Origin of Cellular Life
• DNA
• A more stable molecule
• Eventually became the
genetic repository
• Three-part system
(DNA, RNA, protein)
evolved and became
universal among cells
• LUCA – Last Universal
Common Ancestor
• Diversification
Origin of Cellular Life
Last Universal Common Ancestor
• Early Earth was anoxic (no O2 present)
• Energy-generating metabolism of primitive cells would have been
• Anaerobic
• Heat-stable
• Chemolithotrophic
– Autotrophic
– Obtained carbon from CO2
– Obtained e- from H2
– e- acceptor was S0
Last Universal Common Ancestor
H2
CO2
Pyrite
Pyrrhotite
(volcanic mineral)
e- donor
Protons
Energy
ADP is phosphorylated to ATP
Metabolic Diversification: Consequences for
Earth’s Biosphere
• Chemolitho-autotrophic metabolism supported production of large
amounts of organic compounds
• Provided an abundant, diverse, and continually renewed source of
reduced organic carbon
• Evolution of chemolithoautotrophic to chemoorganoheterotrophic
metabolisms
Metabolic Diversification: Consequences for
Earth’s Biosphere
Photosynthesis and the Oxidation of Earth
• Phototrophs use sunlight as energy source
• Photoautotrophs use CO2 as C-source
CO2
Photosynthesis and the Oxidation of Earth
• First phototrophs were anoxygenic
• e- donor was H2S
• S0 as product
• Diversification led to evolution of Cyanobacteria and oxygenic
photosynthesis (~2.6 BYA)
• e- donor was H2O
• O2 as product
• Stromatolites (“layered rocks”)
• Fossilized microbial communities
• 3.5 billion years old
• Evidence of phototrophic
Bacteria
The Rise of Oxygen – Banded Iron Formations
• In absence of O2, iron would only have been present in reduced
form (Fe2+)
o Dissolved in water
• O2 produced by cyanobacteria did not accumulate in atmosphere
• Reacted with Fe2+
• Oxidized it to Fe3+
o Not soluble in water
o Precipitate on sea floor
o Banded iron formations
The Rise of Oxygen – Banded Iron Formations
• After all the Fe2+ was oxidized, O2 could start to
accumulate in the atmosphere
• 2.4 billion years ago O2 accumulated to 1 part per million
• Initiated the Great Oxidation Event
The Rise of Oxygen – Banded Iron Formations
The Rise of Oxygen – Banded Iron Formations
• As O2 accumulated, the atmosphere gradually changed
from anoxic to oxic
• Species of Bacteria and Archaea unable to adapt to this
change were restricted to anoxic habitats because of the
toxicity of O2
• New metabolisms evolved
• Microbes that could respire O2 had more energy and
reproduced faster than anaerobes
The Ozone Shield
• The presence of O2, lead to the formation of ozone (O3)
• In the presence of UV, O2 is converted to O3 which absorbs
UV radiation up to 300 nm
• UV radiation from the sun is toxic to cells, causes DNA
damage
• This ozone shield allowed life to survive on the surface
• Exploit new habitats
• Evolution of greater diversity and eventually multicellular
organisms
