Credit: NASA
Scientists have long thought that there was a direct connection between the rise in atmospheric oxygen, which started with the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago, and the rise of large, complex multicellular organisms.
That theory, the Oxygen Control Hypothesis, suggests that the size of these early multicellular organisms was limited by the depth to which oxygen could diffuse into their bodies. The hypothesis makes a simple prediction that has been highly influential within both evolutionary biology and geosciences: Greater atmospheric oxygen should always increase the size to which multicellular organisms can grow.
It s a hypothesis that s proven difficult to test in a lab. Yet a team of Georgia Tech researchers found a way using directed evolution, synthetic biology, and mathematical modeling all brought to bear on a simple multicellular lifeform called a snowflake yeast . The results? Significant new information on the correlations between oxyg
Led by BTI faculty member Fay-Wei Li, researchers have discovered a new species of cyanobacteria, Anthocerotibacter panamensis, which could help illuminate how photosynthesis evolved to create the world as we know it.
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IMAGE: Anthocerotibacter panamensis, a newly discovered species of cyanobacteria, can help researchers study the dawn of oxygenic photosynthesis. view more
Credit: Fay-Wei Li
ITHACA, NY, May 13, 2021 Cyanobacteria are one of the unsung heroes of life on Earth. They first evolved to perform photosynthesis about 2.4 billion years ago, pumping tons of oxygen into the atmosphere - a period known as the Great Oxygenation Event - which enabled the evolution of multicellular life forms.
Led by BTI faculty member Fay-Wei Li, researchers have discovered a new species of cyanobacteria, Anthocerotibacter panamensis, which could help illuminate how photosynthesis evolved to create the world as we know it. The work was published in
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