Radiation of nitrogen‐metabolizing enzymes across the tree of life tracks environmental transitions in Earth history
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Abstract
Nitrogen is an essential element to life and exerts a strong control on global biological productivity. The rise and spread of nitrogen‐utilizing microbial metabolisms profoundly shaped the biosphere on the early Earth. Here, we reconciled gene and species trees to identify birth and horizontal gene transfer events for key nitrogen‐cycling genes, dated with a time‐calibrated tree of life, in order to examine the timing of the proliferation of these metabolisms across the tree of life. Our results provide new insights into the evolution of the early nitrogen cycle that expand on geochemical reconstructions. We observed widespread horizontal gene transfer of molybdenum‐based nitrogenase back to the Archean, minor horizontal transfer of genes for nitrate reduction in the Archean, and an increase in the proliferation of genes metabolizing nitrite around the time of the Mesoproterozoic (~1.5 Ga). The latter coincides with recent geochemical evidence for a mid‐Proterozoic rise in oxygen levels. Geochemical evidence of biological nitrate utilization in the Archean and early Proterozoic may reflect at least some contribution of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) rather than pure denitrification to N 2 . Our results thus help unravel the relative dominance of two metabolic pathways that are not distinguishable with current geochemical tools. Overall, our findings thus provide novel constraints for understanding the evolution of the nitrogen cycle over time and provide insights into the bioavailability of various nitrogen sources in the early Earth with possible implications for the emergence of eukaryotic life.
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The age of LUCA is sensitive to the root calibration used.
“This is consistent with previous work suggesting that the age of LUCA is sensitive to the root calibration used19,21,27,95,96.”
From ATP synthase evolution on a cross-braced dated tree of life (2023) · cites this paper as [96]
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- Authors
- Parsons, C., Stüeken, E. E., Rosen, C. J., Mateos, K., & Anderson, R. E.
- Affiliations
- Carleton College (US)
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Anderson, Rika E.
- Venue
- Geobiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-10-27
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 18-34
- ISSN
- 1472-4669 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-4677
- PMC
- PMC7894544
- OpenAlex
- W3093887097
- Cited by
- 91
- References
- 136
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 3.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Geobiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- St Andrews Research Repository (St Andrews Research Repository) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC18K0829)
- Carleton College
- Royal Society
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- NASA Astrobiology Institute (80NSSC18K0829)
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Keywords
- nitrogenase, molybdenum, horizontal gene transfer, gene tree reconciliation, Archean, Proterozoic, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium, denitrification, nitrite metabolism, early Earth
- MeSH terms
- Enzymes, Biological Evolution, Nitrates, Nitrogen, Oxidation-Reduction, Radiation, Denitrification, Ammonium Compounds
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