Cited by 313Protist diversity and phylogenyPaleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsPhotosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms

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Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils

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Schirrmeister, Bettina E., Gugger, Muriel, Donoghue, Philip C. J.·2015·Palaeontology

DOI 10.1111/pala.12178PMC PMC4755140

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Abstract

Cyanobacteria are among the most ancient of evolutionary lineages, oxygenic photosynthesizers that may have originated before 3.0 Ga, as evidenced by free oxygen levels. Throughout the P recambrian, cyanobacteria were one of the most important drivers of biological innovations, strongly impacting early Earth's environments. At the end of the A rchean E on, they were responsible for the rapid oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere during an episode referred to as the G reat O xidation E vent (GOE). However, little is known about the origin and diversity of early cyanobacterial taxa, due to: (1) the scarceness of P recambrian fossil deposits; (2) limited characteristics for the identification of taxa; and (3) the poor preservation of ancient microfossils. Previous studies based on 16 S r RNA have suggested that the origin of multicellularity within cyanobacteria might have been associated with the GOE. However, single‐gene analyses have limitations, particularly for deep branches. We reconstructed the evolutionary history of cyanobacteria using genome scale data and re‐evaluated the P recambrian fossil record to get more precise calibrations for a relaxed clock analysis. For the phylogenomic reconstructions, we identified 756 conserved gene sequences in 65 cyanobacterial taxa, of which eight genomes have been sequenced in this study. Character state reconstructions based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic inference confirm previous findings, of an ancient multicellular cyanobacterial lineage ancestral to the majority of modern cyanobacteria. Relaxed clock analyses provide firm support for an origin of cyanobacteria in the A rchean and a transition to multicellularity before the GOE. It is likely that multicellularity had a greater impact on cyanobacterial fitness and thus abundance, than previously assumed. Multicellularity, as a major evolutionary innovation, forming a novel unit for selection to act upon, may have served to overcome evolutionary constraints and enabled diversification of the variety of morphotypes seen in cyanobacteria today.

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TL;DR

Genome-scale phylogenomics and relaxed molecular clock analyses of 65 cyanobacterial taxa support an Archean origin of cyanobacteria and an origin of multicellularity before the Great Oxidation Event, with multicellularity later lost and occasionally regained. The authors argue this early multicellularity may have increased cyanobacterial abundance and oxygen production, contributing to the GOE.

Key findings

The phylogenomic tree, based on 756 conserved proteins (197,761 amino acid sites) from 65 cyanobacterial taxa, recovered six major clades with full bootstrap support; 100% maximum likelihood bootstrap support was inferred for 57 of 64 branches, compared with 24 of 64 branches in the 16S/23S rRNA tree.
Ancestral character state reconstruction inferred a very early transition to multicellularity at node/branch 69; multicellularity was subsequently lost at least five times and regained on one, possibly two, branches leading to *Leptolyngbya* sp. PCC 7376 and *Spirulina subsalsa* PCC 9445, so the majority of modern cyanobacteria are descendants of an ancient multicellular lineage.
Relaxed clock analyses, irrespective of prior assumptions for node 69, estimated that multicellularity originated before the GOE; cyanobacteria originated in the Archean/mid-Archean long before the GOE, and the majority of modern clades 2–6 evolved after the GOE.
Comparisons of modern cyanobacterial cell sizes to Precambrian microfossils support the inferred presence of multicellular cyanobacteria before the GOE, but the fossil record does not provide evidence for multicellular taxa among the earliest unequivocal fossil assemblages at 3.33–3.45 Ga.

Methods

Taxon sampling and phylogenomics: 65 cyanobacterial taxa were analyzed, including 27 unicellular (sections I–II) and 38 multicellular (sections III–V) taxa; eight additional cyanobacterial genomes were sequenced. A total of 756 highly conserved proteins were identified, aligned, and concatenated into a 197,761-amino-acid supermatrix; maximum likelihood trees were reconstructed with RAxML using the LG + Γ model and 1000 bootstrap resamplings, alongside a concatenated 16S/23S rRNA tree.
Ancestral character state reconstruction: maximum likelihood methods in the R ape package and Bayesian inference in BayesTraits were used; MCMC analyses ran for 1,010,000 iterations with a 10,000 burn-in, estimating transition rates q01 (to multicellularity) and q10 (to unicellularity).
Divergence time estimation: relaxed clocks with lognormal rate distribution were applied in MCMCTREE/PAML, using three calibrations—origin of Cyanobacteria, origin of sections IV and V capable of cellular differentiation, and origin of multicellularity at node 69. Two hypotheses were tested: multicellularity after the GOE (H1) versus before the GOE (H2); four MCMC analyses ran for 10 million generations, sampling every 100 generations with 50% burn-in.

Limitations

Stated: deep divergences are limited by the lack of evolutionary information retained in molecular data over long timescales, weaknesses in phylogenetic models, paucity of calibration points, potential misassignment of calibrations, and the likelihood that fossil ages poorly approximate clade ages; posterior node age estimates had large 95% confidence intervals that prevented precise dating.
Stated: the Precambrian fossil record is patchy at best; the earliest unequivocal fossil assemblages at 3.33–3.45 Ga do not provide evidence for multicellular cyanobacteria, and filament diameters in older fossils are described as “more probabilistic than deterministic” evidence for cyanobacteria.
Evident from the text: the analyses depend on debated fossil interpretations and geochemical inferences for calibration, use only uniform prior distributions, and showed that user-specified priors can differ from effective priors, although the authors judged the age ranges similar enough to accept.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/pala.12178

Cites

98 of 98 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

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Claims the paper makes

0 of 90 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Relaxed clock analyses provide firm support for an origin of cyanobacteria in the Archean and a transition to multicellularity before the GOE.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
Load-bearingStrength:boosted· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
- The authors state this as an assumption: The divergence of the Gloeobacter lineage from the stem lineage leading to all other extant cyanobacteria occurred between 3.85 and 2.918 Ga (analyses A, C) or between 3.85 and 2.45 Ga (analyses B, D).
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Relaxed clock analyses provide firm support for an origin of cyanobacteria in the Archean and a transition to multicellularity before the GOE.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
Load-bearingStrength:boosted· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
- The authors state this as an assumption: The most recent common ancestor of subsections IV and V cyanobacteria originated after the GOE but before 1.957 Ga.

Show all 76 claims

Probably not a substantial claim. 20
It may state two separate claims as one. 34

In the paper
“In this study, the use of an impressively large data set (197 766 amino acid sites) helped to overcome the limitations previous analyses might have had, not only substantially improving the statistical support across cyanobacterial phylogeny in comparison with single‐gene analyses, but also corroborating the hypotheses of an early origin of multicellularity in Cyanobacteria (Schirrmeister et al. 2”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Improved data set to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Cyanobacteria
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Schirrmeister et al. 2011b, 2013
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In addition to their ecological variety, cyanobacteria exhibit impressive morphological diversity, particularly for prokaryotes. On this basis, cyanobacteria have been classified and divided into five subsections (Rippka et al. 1979; Castenholz 2001).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Rippka et al. 1979
- Not checked yetcites Castenholz 2001
Strength:plain· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Although the limiting factor on precision in divergence time studies is invariably the uncertainty associated with the fossil calibrations (dos Reis and Yang 2013), in terms of the degree to which fossil minima approximate the true time of divergence, much of the uncertainty associated with phylogeny and divergence time estimation can be diminished by employing genome scale data (dos Reis et al. 2”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites dos Reis and Yang 2013
- Not checked yetcites dos Reis et al. 2012
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Although many multicellular fossil remains from the Archean and Proterozoic (Altermann and Schopf 1995; Schopf 2006) have been interpreted as cyanobacteria, the overall fossil record is patchy at best and provides only glimpses into the history of these early prokaryotes.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Altermann and Schopf 1995
- Not checked yetcites Schopf 2006
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The appearance of cyanobacterial fossils attributed to subsections IV and V cyanobacteria occurs after the GOE, supporting the hypothesis that heterocyst formation evolved after the increase in atmospheric oxygen to allow for nitrogen fixation, spatially separated from photosynthesis (Tomitani et al. 2006).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Tomitani et al. 2006
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“bacteria in subsections IV and V have the ability to form differentiated cells, such as metabolically specialized heterocysts for nitrogen fixation and resting cells, so called akinetes (Flores and Herrero 2010).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Flores and Herrero 2010
Strength:plain· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Taxa belonging to subsection V are the only cyanobacteria that grow multiseriate filaments (varying cell width) and in several planes exhibit ‘true’ branching, not to be confused with ‘false’ branching (Rippka et al. 1979; Gugger and Hoffmann 2004).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Rippka et al. 1979
- Not checked yetcites Gugger and Hoffmann 2004
Strength:plain· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Cyanobacteria are among the most ancient of evolutionary lineages, oxygenic photosynthesizers that may have originated before 3.0 Ga, as evidenced by free oxygen levels.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Crowe et al. 2013
- Not checked yetcites Lyons et al. 2014
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Based on Sm‐Nd isotopes, two kerogen‐rich shale samples of the Franceville Group were dated 2.099 Ga ± 115 Myr to 2.036 Ga ± 79 Myr, which suggests a conservative minimum constrain for the tree calibration of 1.957 Ga (Bros et al. 1992).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Material and methods > Restricting the origin of terminal cell differentiation (calibration 2)
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bros et al. 1992
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibratedn = 2
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“For analyses B and D, the lower limit on the age of crown Cyanobacteria is based on the estimated beginning of the GOE (Bekker et al. 2004).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Material and methods > Restricting the origin of cyanobacteria (calibration 1)
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bekker et al. 2004
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“These fossil akinetes, classified as Archaeoellipsoides, have been reported from various intervals through the Proterozoic (Horodyski and Donaldson 1980; Golubic et al. 1995; Srivastava 2005); however, the microfossils of the Franceville Group are the earliest of these occurrences.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Material and methods > Restricting the origin of terminal cell differentiation (calibration 2)
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Horodyski and Donaldson 1980
- Not checked yetcites Golubic et al. 1995
- Not checked yetcites Srivastava 2005
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The lower limit on the age of crown Cyanobacteria in analyses A and C is based on Mo isotope evidence for oxygen production from the Sinqeni Fm., Pongola Supergroup, South Africa, indicating indirectly the presence of manganese oxidation, a process that would require abundant free oxygen (Planavsky et al. 2014).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Material and methods > Restricting the origin of cyanobacteria (calibration 1)
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Planavsky et al. 2014
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Applying 16S rRNA sequence data and a set of different calibration assumptions, a previous study by Schirrmeister et al. (2013) estimated divergence times that pointed towards an origin of cyanobacteria in the Archean Eon, with multicellularity more likely originating before the GOE.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Improved data set to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Cyanobacteria
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Schirrmeister et al. (2013)
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Previous hypotheses have argued for an origin of Cyanobacteria shortly before the GOE (Kirschvink and Kopp 2008), followed by a rapid accumulation of oxygen as observed during the GOE.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Benefits of cyanobacterial multicellularity and its potential consequences for the GOE
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Kirschvink and Kopp 2008
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✗ Asserted: fails✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“More than 2.83‐Gyr‐old reef systems from Mushandike, Zimbabwe, and Steep Rock, Canada, seem to have been formed in oxic waters and support the hypotheses of Archean oxygen oases that were based on the absence of mass‐independent sulphur fractionation (Ohmoto et al. 2006).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Comparison of cyanobacterial cell sizes to Precambrian microfossils
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Ohmoto et al. 2006
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Additionally, calibrations of tip clades have been claimed to be unsuitable for the accurate estimation of deep divergence events (Duchene et al. 2014).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Improved data set to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Cyanobacteria
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Duchene et al. 2014
Strength:hedged· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Alternatively, several studies have found evidence of free oxygen and, thus, inferred the presence of cyanobacteria, hundreds of millions of years prior to the GOE, possibly as early as 3.0 Ga (Nisbet et al. 2007; Nisbet and Nisbet 2008; Crowe et al. 2013; Lyons et al. 2014).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Benefits of cyanobacterial multicellularity and its potential consequences for the GOE
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Nisbet et al. 2007
- Not checked yetcites Nisbet and Nisbet 2008
- Not checked yetcites Crowe et al. 2013
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“Another study by Shih and Matzke (2013) recovered a much more recent origin of living cyanobacterial taxa concluding that an ancient cyanobacterial stem lineage must be responsible for late Archean oxygen levels.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Improved data set to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Cyanobacteria
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Shih and Matzke (2013)
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Isotopes from organic carbon in these rocks, additionally, point towards cyanobacterial RuBisCO I activity in those deposits and support an origin of cyanobacteria in the Archean (Nisbet et al. 2007; Nisbet and Fowler 2011).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Comparison of cyanobacterial cell sizes to Precambrian microfossils
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Nisbet et al. 2007
- Not checked yetcites Nisbet and Fowler 2011
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The ATPase subunits resulted from an ancient duplication event, which occurred before the last common ancestor of all living taxa and has therefore been used in the past to reconstruct the Tree of Life (Iwabe et al. 1989).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Improved data set to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Cyanobacteria
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Iwabe et al. 1989
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The assumptions that: (1) simple filamentous cyanobacterial taxa were present in 2.0‐Gyr‐old deposits; and (2) cyanobacteria were responsible for the accumulation of oxygen during the Archean, indicates an existence of multicellular cyanobacteria before the GOE.”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Comparison of cyanobacterial cell sizes to Precambrian microfossils
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes? Based: unclear
It may state two separate claims as one.
- The authors state this as an assumption: Simple filamentous cyanobacterial taxa were present in 2.0-Gyr-old deposits.
- The authors state this as an assumption: Cyanobacteria were responsible for the accumulation of oxygen during the Archean.
In the paper
“Furthermore, experiments have demonstrated the movement of filamentous cyanobacteria to avoid UV light, where prevention of movement resulted in UV‐induced inhibition of photosynthesis (Kruschel and Castenholz 1998).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Benefits of cyanobacterial multicellularity and its potential consequences for the GOE
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Kruschel and Castenholz 1998
Load-bearingStrength:boosted· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The delay in the accumulation of free oxygen until the GOE has been explained by a strongly reducing atmosphere where initially produced oxygen was captured by oxygen sinks, such as reduced volcanic gases (Catling and Claire 2005).”
§ Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils > Discussion > Benefits of cyanobacterial multicellularity and its potential consequences for the GOE
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Catling and Claire 2005
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibrated
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passes
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

48 of 48

The authors state this as an assumption.
The divergence of the Gloeobacter lineage from the stem lineage leading to all other extant cyanobacteria occurred between 3.85 and 2.918 Ga (analyses A, C) or between 3.85 and 2.45 Ga (analyses B, D).
“The divergence of Gloeobacter lineage from the stem lineage leading to the all other extant cyanobacterial species was assumed to have occurred some time between 3.85 and 2.918 Ga (Table 1, analyses A, C) or 3.85 and 2.45 Ga (Table 1, analyses B, D), with each time point being equally likely (uniform prior distribution).”
The authors state this as an assumption.
The most recent common ancestor of subsections IV and V cyanobacteria originated after the GOE but before 1.957 Ga.
“we assumed that the most recent common ancestor of subsections IV and V cyanobacteria must have originated after the GOE, but prior to 1.957 Ga.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
The end of the Late Heavy Bombardment at 3.85 Ga can be taken as a similar age for Earth.
“Given that the heavy lunar bombardment is estimated to have ended at 3.85 Ga, a similar age may be assumed for Earth given the proximity of the moon.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Simple filamentous cyanobacterial taxa were present in 2.0-Gyr-old deposits.
“The assumptions that: (1) simple filamentous cyanobacterial taxa were present in 2.0‐Gyr‐old deposits; and (2) cyanobacteria were responsible for the accumulation of oxygen during the Archean, indicates an existence of multicellular cyanobacteria before the GOE.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Cyanobacteria were responsible for the accumulation of oxygen during the Archean.
“The assumptions that: (1) simple filamentous cyanobacterial taxa were present in 2.0‐Gyr‐old deposits; and (2) cyanobacteria were responsible for the accumulation of oxygen during the Archean, indicates an existence of multicellular cyanobacteria before the GOE.”

5 of 5

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

Differentiated-clade calibration has two upper bounds
Major
The methods specify an upper bound of 2.45 Ga for the subsections IV and V calibration, but Table 1 gives 2.32 Ga for that calibration in every analysis.
Root-calibration assignments are reversed
Major
The text assigns the 2.918 Ga lower bound to analyses A and C and the 2.45 Ga bound to B and D. Table 1 assigns them the other way around.
Supermatrix length changes in the discussion
Minor
The discussion reports 197,766 amino acid sites, while the methods report 197,761 for the same supermatrix.
Five stated multicellular strains are six listed strains
Minor
The sampling description says five multicellular strains were sequenced, but its list names six: one each under items 1, 2, 3 and 5, and two Pseudanabaena strains under item 4.
Figure captions give a different narrow root bound
Minor
The figure caption gives 2.958 Ga as the lower bound of the narrow root calibration, whereas Table 1 gives 2.918 Ga.
q01 is assigned to both opposing transitions
Minor
The results define q01 as both the gain and loss of multicellularity. The methods instead define q01 as the gain and q10 as the transition back to unicellularity.
Western Australian deposit is dated in Ma instead of Ga
Minor
The discussion dates the deposit containing Oscillatoriopsis to approximately 2.0 Ma. The methods describe the Western Australian deposit containing that fossil as approximately 2.0 Ga.
Figure 2 reverses the hypothesis labels
Minor
Figure 2 calls an origin before the GOE Hypothesis 1 and an origin after it Hypothesis 2. The results define Hypothesis 1 as after the GOE and Hypothesis 2 as before it.

8 of 8

1 retracted

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Retracted
MAFFT Multiple Sequence Alignment Software Version 7: Improvements in Performance and Usability
Katoh, K., & Standley, D. M. (2013) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/mst010 · Cited by 46,209
BLAST+: architecture and applications
Camacho, C., Coulouris, G., Avagyan, V., Ma, N., Papadopoulos, J., Bealer, K., & Madden, T. L. (2009) · BMC Bioinformatics · doi:10.1186/1471-2105-10-421 · Cited by 22,074
Prokka: rapid prokaryotic genome annotation
Seemann, T. (2014) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btu153 · Cited by 18,937
PAML 4: Phylogenetic Analysis by Maximum Likelihood
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Items 201–300 of 313

Description of Pegethrix niliensis sp. nov., a Novel Cyanobacterium from the Nile River Basin, Egypt: A Polyphasic Analysis and Comparative Study of Related Genera in the Oculatellales Order
Hentschke, G. S., Mohamed, Z. A., Campos, A. M. O., et al. (2024) · Toxins · doi:10.3390/toxins16100451 · Cited by 2
“Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic and prokaryotic microorganisms that initially evolved about 3500 million years ago [1].”
Background
ThyD Is a Thylakoid Membrane Protein Influencing Cell Division and Acclimation to High Light in the Multicellular Cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. Strain PCC 7120
Valladares, A., & Herrero, A. (2024) · Molecular Microbiology · doi:10.1111/mmi.15335 · Cited by 3
PRODUCTION OF OXYGEN FROM AQUEOUS WATER USING THE PRINCIPLE OF INDUCED CURRENT
Director, I. S. S. B., Onn, L. K., Khoo, K. T., Koon, Y. Y., Director, M. W. S. B., Xin, C. J., & Chemist, M. W. S. B. (2022) · MATTER International Journal of Science and Technology · doi:10.20319/mijst.2021.72.2943 · Cited by 2
The Biostratigraphic Paradox of Precambrian Cyanobacteria: Distinguishing the Succession of Microfossil Assemblages and Evolutionary Changes Observed among Proterozoic Prokaryotic Microorganisms
Sergeev, V. N. (2018) · Paleontological Journal · doi:10.1134/s0031030118100131 · Cited by 2
History of Life from the Hydrocarbon Fossil Record
Walters, C. C., Peters, K. E., & Moldowan, J. M. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90569-3_32 · Cited by 3
Potential Metal Chelating Ability of Mycosporine-Like Amino Acids: A Computational ResearchPreprint
Varnalı, T., Bozoflu, M., Şengönül, H., et al. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-657747/v1 · Cited by 2
Molecular Paleobiology of the Echinoderm SkeletonPreprint
Thompson, J. R. (2022) · doi:10.32942/osf.io/vqejt · Cited by 2
Methanol on the rocks: Green rust transformation promotes the oxidation of methanePreprint
Farr, O., Gaudu, N., Danger, G., et al. (2023) · ChemRxiv · doi:10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-4z4n0 · Cited by 2
Haematococcus lacustris Carotenogensis: A Historical Event of Primary to Secondary Adaptations to Earth’s Oxygenation
Qu, C., Jin, H., Zhang, B., Chen, W., Zhang, Y., Xu, Y. Y., Wang, R., & Lao, Y. (2024) · Life · doi:10.3390/life14050576 · Cited by 1
“However, the appearance of oxygenically pho-tosynthesizing cyanobacteria from 3.0 to 2.7 Ga triggered the first significant appearance and accumulation of atmospheric oxygen, the so-called Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) between 2.4 and 2.0 Ga [4,5].”
BackgroundInfluential
An irreversible thermodynamic model of prebiological dissipative molecular structures inside vacuoles at the surface of the Archean Ocean
Montemayor-Aldrete, J. A., Nieto-Villar, J. M., Villagómez, C. J., & Márquez-Caballé, R. F. (2024) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105379 · Cited by 1
Metagenomic Assembled Genomes of a Pseudanabaena Cyanobacterium and Six Heterotrophic Strains from a Xenic Culture
Boudreau, P. D. (2025) · Microorganisms · doi:10.3390/microorganisms13091996 · Cited by 1
“They were responsible for oxygenating the Earth’s atmosphere over two billion years ago [3] and still play central roles in the planet’s carbon and nitrogen cycles [2,4].”
The rise of free oxygen may have initiated on marine mud
Boden, J. S., Ostrander, C. M., & Stüeken, E. E. (2025) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01867-1 · Cited by 1
“4–6,16,17).”
Cooperative environmental engineering via biofilm formation can stabilize consumer-resource systems
Lynn, B. K., Leenheer, P. D., & Dalziel, B. D. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0337943 · Cited by 1
“Cyanobacteria catalyzed the Great Oxidation Event where the methane in Earth’s atmosphere was replaced by oxygen transforming the planet and all life on it, while also suffocating many of the existing anaerobic species present [24–27].”
Short-Term Light Adaptations in the Pigment Apparatus of Cyanobacteria. Role of Phycobilisomes
Stadnichuk, I. N. (2025) · Russian Journal of Plant Physiology · doi:10.1134/s1021443725604665 · Cited by 1
“Cyanobacteria are the oldest group of oxygenic pho-tosynthetics, evolving about 2.5 billion years ago [1] and later giving rise to the evolutionary origin of chloroplasts in all groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes, from microalgae to angiosperms.”
Influential
To multicellularity and back again: Description of two new coccoid genera ( Portococcus gen. nov. and Pseudanabaenococcus gen. nov.) in the basal “filamentous” order Pseudanabaenales, Cyanobacteria
Strunecký, O., Kozlíková‐Zapomělová, E., Jezberová, J., et al. (2026) · Journal of Phycology · doi:10.1111/jpy.70130 · Cited by 1
“The enduring presence of these forms underscores their evolutionary success and highlights the remarkable resilience of their core biological characteristics, which have likely remained unchanged over vast evolutionary timescales (Schirrmeister et al., 2015).”
Survival of cyanobacteria and mitigation of Fe(II) toxicity effects in a silica-rich Archean ocean
Dreher, C., Cirpka, O. A., Schad, M., Konhauser, K. O., & Kappler, A. A. (2026) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-026-69826-x · Cited by 1
“Consequently, ROS stress alone is unlikely to explain the temporal lag between the emergence of oxygenic cyanobacteria ( >3 Ga) and the onset of the GOE (2.5 – 2.3 Ga) 31,63 – 65 .”
Influential
Classic Cambrian thrombolite reveals a 2.5 Gyr history of ministromatolites and their “ghost” clots
Lee, J.-H., & Riding, R. (2026) · Journal of Sedimentary Research · doi:10.2110/jsr.2025.105 · Cited by 1
Harnessing engineered cyanobacteria for next-generation therapeutics
Bhardwaj, A., & Mishra, A. K. (2026) · Archives of Microbiology · doi:10.1007/s00203-026-04790-0 · Cited by 2
“Through oxygenic photosynthesis, they contributed to the Great Oxidation Event approximately 2.4 billion years ago, a transformation that altered Earth’s atmosphere and enabled the development of complex aerobic life (Schirrmeister et al. 2015).”
Influential
Cyanobacteria-derived near-infrared autofluorescent exosomes enabling synergistic brain lesion imaging and neuroprotection
Pan, J., Wang, Y., Feng, Y., Wang, J., Huang, Q., Yan, L., Zhou, X., Sun, H., Wang, H., & Qu, W. (2026) · Bioactive Materials · doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.04.027 · Cited by 1
“This photosynthetic microorganism offers inherent advantages, including rapid proliferation, ease of large-scale culture, and low immunogenicity [22 – 28].”
Architectural and biochemical advances in understanding microbial CO 2 concentrating mechanisms
Flothow, C. E. M., & Küffner, A. M. (2026) · The Plant Journal · doi:10.1111/tpj.70913 · Cited by 1
Evolution and Observable Properties of Rocky Planet Atmospheres
Steinmeyer, M.-L., Noack, L., Baumeister, P., Hamano, K., Way, M. J., Breuer, D., Seki, K., Brachmann, C., Gaillard, F., Scherf, M., et al. (2026) · Space Science Reviews · doi:10.1007/s11214-026-01308-4 · Cited by 1
Proteome Analysis of Phototrophic Adaptation
Deschoenmaeker, F., Leroy, B., & Wattiez, R. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-51365-2_7 · Cited by 1
Evidências de Eventos de Oxigenação a partir da Geoquímica de Formações Ferríferas Bandadas do Greenstone Belt Pitangui (Meso-Neoarqueano), porção sul do Cráton São Francisco
Santos, N., Ferreira, C. C., Soares, M., dos Santos, K. R. A. G., Faria, L., Neto, A. V. C., Silva, P. H., & Mabub, R. O. D. A. (2019) · Geochimica Brasiliensis · doi:10.21715/gb2358-2812.2019331028 · Cited by 1
Moving to the Light: The Evolution of Photosynthesis
Ligrone, R. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-16057-9_4 · Cited by 3
An overview of the connection between Earth’s climate evolution and mass extinction events
Montero-Martínez, M. J., & Andrade‐Velázquez, M. (2023) · Earth Sciences Research Journal · doi:10.15446/esrj.v26n4.103152 · Cited by 1
“…to their same ability to provide energy by increasing the amount of oxygen that was greater than what could be absorbed, annihilating most anaerobic organisms, for which oxygen is toxic (Schirrmeister et al., 2013; Schirrmeister et al., 2015; Ostrander et al., 2019; Sánchez-Baracaldo et al., 2022).”
Background
A new easy method for determination of surface adhesion of phototrophic biofilms
Stiefelmaier, J., Strieth, D., Schaefer, S., Wrabl, B., Kronenberger, D., Bröckel, U., & Ulber, R. (2023) · Biotechnology and Bioengineering · doi:10.1002/bit.28536 · Cited by 1
The globins of cyanobacteria and green algae: An update
Lecomte, J. T. J., & Johnson, E. A. (2024) · Advances in microbial physiology/Advances in Microbial Physiology · doi:10.1016/bs.ampbs.2024.04.004 · Cited by 1
Introduction
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0001 · Cited by 1
The microbial cataclysm that forever changed life’s history
Schopf, J. W. (2024) · Earth history and biodiversity. · doi:10.1016/j.hisbio.2024.100005 · Cited by 1
Sulfate assimilation regulates antioxidant defense response of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 to high concentrations of carbon dioxide
Mu, Y., Chen, H., Li, J., Han, P., & Yan, Z. (2025) · Applied and Environmental Microbiology · doi:10.1128/aem.00115-25 · Cited by 1
History of Life from the Hydrocarbon Fossil Record
Walters, C. C., Peters, K. E., & Moldowan, J. M. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-54529-5_32-1 · Cited by 1
Allelopathic potential of Microcystin-RR at environmentally relevant concentrations: Species-specific growth responses of phytoplankton
Stanković, N., Kostić, I., Andjelković, T., et al. (2025) · Chemia Naissensis · doi:10.46793/chemn8.1.36s · Cited by 1
An Archaean oxygen oasis
Gomes, M. L. (2018) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/s41561-018-0058-z · Cited by 1
The Relevance and Challenges of Studying Microbial Evolution
Rampelotto, P. H. (2018) · Grand challenges in biology and biotechnology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-69078-0_1 · Cited by 1
“eliminated, opening up ecological “niches” for aerobic organisms to develop (Schirrmeister et al. 2015).”
Background
A study on the differentiation of filamentous cyanobacterial isolates using DNA fingerprinting approach
Negi, Y. K., Sharma, S. D., Sutradhar, N., et al. (2019) · Cited by 1
Radioprotective role of cyanobacterial phycobilisomesPreprint
Klementiev, K. E., Maksimov, E. G., Gvozdev, D. A., et al. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/281386 · Cited by 1
The involvement of type IV pili and phytochrome in gliding motility, lateral motility and phototaxis of the cyanobacterium Phormidium lacunaPreprint
Lamparter, T., Babian, J., Fröhlich, K., et al. (2021) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2021.03.22.436410 · Cited by 1
“0 billion years ago, cyanobacteria evolved oxygenic photosynthesis [1].”
Background
Ecology and Biogeography of the Cyanobacteria
Jungblut, A. D. (2022) · Bergey's Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria · doi:10.1002/9781118960608.bm00037 · Cited by 1
Marine phosphate level during the Archean constrained by the global redox budgetPreprint
Watanabe, Y., Ozaki, K., & Tajika, E. (2024) · doi:10.22541/essoar.170561632.22376910/v1 · Cited by 1
The ancient evolution of far-red light photoacclimation in cyanobacteriaPreprint
Antonaru, L., Rad-Menéndez, C., Mbedi, S., Sparmann, S., Pope, M., Oliver, T., Wu, S., Green, D., Gugger, M., & Nürnberg, D. J. (2024) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/2024.05.15.594131 · Cited by 1
Self-citation
Structure-based analysis unveils co-origin of LPOR and nitrogenase-like proteinsPreprint
Sun, X., Ma, L., Zeng, F., Hong, Y., Dixon, R. A., Rao, Z., Zhao, G., Zhao, J. F., Zhang, C., Wu, M., et al. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.02.17.634645 · Cited by 2
Superhabitable Planets Around Mid‐Type K Dwarf Stars Enhance Simulated JWST Observability and Surface Habitability
Vilović, I., Goyal, J., Heller, R., & von Schauenburg, F. M. (2025) · Astronomische Nachrichten · doi:10.1002/asna.20240081
“Lastly, as previously mentioned, molecular oxygen (O 2 ) levels could increase from present-day 21% by volume on Earth to 25% to reflect a thriving photosynthetic biosphere (Schirrmeister et al. 2015).”
Robust Estimation of the Phylogenetic Origin of Plastids Using a tRNA-Based PhyloclassifierPreprint
Lawrence, T. J., Amrine, K. C. H., Swingley, W. D., et al. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/442608
“However, despite substantial progress on a robust cyanobacterial Tree of 11 Life (CyanoToL) [9, 39,45,47], the root of plastids within the CyanoToL remains 12 controversial.”
Background
Biogeochemical and phylogenetic signals of Proterozoic and Phanerozoic microbial metabolisms
Gruen, D. S. (2018) · Open Access Server of the Woods Hole Scientific Community (Woods Hole Scientific Community) · doi:10.1575/1912/10645
“Moreover, understanding the carbon cycle both in the past and today relies on an understanding of Earth's geochemical signals as well as life's biological signals (Knoll, 2017; Schirrmeister et al., 2015).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
The Oxidation of Fe (II), Fe (II) Mineral, and Rapid Denitrification under Cyanobacterial Interfacial Competition by Novel NDFe(II)OB, Pseudogulbenkiania ferrooxidans sp. MAI-1
Robinson, B. R. H. (2019) · uO Research (University of Ottawa) · doi:10.20381/ruor-23712
The study of the biological effects of ionizing radiation on photosynthetic apparatus of cyanobacteria
Nikolaeva, N. A. (2019) · CONFERENCE MATERIALS · doi:10.18411/s-2019-72
The Thermosynechococcus genus: wide environmental distribution, but a highly conserved genomic corePreprint
Prondzinsky, A. P., Berkemer, S. J., Ward, L. M., et al. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.10.20.346296
Improving cyanobacteria productivity: From theory to assay
Shabestary, K. (2020) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
MicroRNA regulation and expression in the anoxia-tolerant red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans
Breedon, S. A. (2021) · Carleton University's Institutional Repository (MacOdrum Library, Carleton University) · doi:10.22215/etd/2021-14738
PRODUCTION OF OXYGEN FROM AQUEOUS WATER USING THE PRINCIPLE OF INDUCED CURRENT
Director, I. S. S. B., Onn, L. K., Tong, K. K., et al. (2022) · MATTER International Journal of Science and Technology · doi:10.20319/mijst.2021.73.2943
Porins and TonB-like proteins in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120
Schätzle, H. (2022) · Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt) · doi:10.21248/gups.66905
CONFERENCE MATERIALS
(2019) · doi:10.18411/s-2019-p1-xx
Crystal structure and functional peculiarities of a primordial Orange Carotenoid Protein (OCPX)Preprint
Slonimskiy, Y. B., Zupnik, A. O., Varfolomeeva, L. A., et al. (2022) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2022.06.14.496144
A Computational Protocol for Dating the Evolution of Cyanobacteria
Zhang, H., Wang, S., & Luo, H. (2022) · Methods in molecular biology · doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-2691-7_2
The new hypothesis of evolutionPreprint
Arbab, M. Y. (2023) · doi:10.22541/au.167274604.45464290/v1
Nehézfém és szinglet oxigén érzékelés Synechocystis PCC 6803 cianobaktériumban
Patyi, G. (2023) · doi:10.14232/phd.11413
Studies on the mechanism of photodamage and photoprotection of photosystem II in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803
Kodru, S. (2022) · SZTE Repository of Dissertations (University of Szeged) · doi:10.14232/phd.11072
Der kosmische Kalender
Heikenwälder, H. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-67435-2_10
Aplicação de extrato contendo guanitoxina produzida por cianobactéria para aplicação no controle de Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)
Fadul, J. C. (2023) · doi:10.11606/d.11.2023.tde-07122023-085753
АНТИБАКТЕРИАЛЬНЫЕ СВОЙСТВА ЛИПИДНЫХ ЭКСТРАКТОВ ЦИАНОБАКТЕРИЙ ANABAENA SPHAERICA BORN. ET FLAH. IPPAS B-404
Темнов, М. С., Устинская, Я. В., Меронюк, К. И., et al. (2023) · Актуальная биотехнология · doi:10.20914/2304-4691-2023-2-41-45
Marine biofilms: cyanobacteria factories for the global oceansPreprint
Zhong, C., Yamanouchi, S., Li, Y., et al. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.03.25.586614
How Entangled Is an Entangled Bank?
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0006
Dedication
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.002.0004
Tipping Points
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0011
Plates
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.002.0009
List of Plates
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.002.0008
How Ecosystems Survive Change
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0004
The Boundless Potential of Evolutionary Entanglements
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0008
Venturing beyond the Red Queen
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0010
Copyright Page
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.002.0003
Why Ecosystems Matter
Wills, C. J. (2024) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.001.0001
List of Figures
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.002.0007
Swift Evolution in Tiny Entangled Banks
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0007
Benefiting from the Bubbling Evolutionary Cauldrons
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0009
Lost Worlds
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0003
The Genetic Contents of the Evolutionary Cauldron
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0005
Preserving the World’s Evolutionary Cauldrons
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0012
How Darwin Brought Evolution and Ecology Together
Wills, C. J. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192887573.003.0002
Evolution: Spectral speciation
Swingley, W. D. (2024) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.008
Evolutionary Origins of Self-sustained Kai Protein Circadian OscillatorsPreprint
Mukaiyama, A., Furuike, Y., Ito-Miwa, K., Onoue, Y., Horiuchi, K., Yamashita, E., & Akiyama, S. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.07.23.604570
Ecological Analysis of Cyanoprokaryotes of the Svalbard Archipelago
Давыдов, Д. А. (2024) · Contemporary Problems of Ecology · doi:10.1134/s1995425524700264
“Their ability to carry out oxygenic photosynthesis led to the Oxygen Catastro-phe, which was a global change in the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere ∼ 2.4–2 billion years ago (Dvořák et al., 2014; Lyons et al., 2014; Schirrmeister et al., 2015).”
Influential
Biological Energy Transformation
Knoflacher, M. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-69423-7_7 · Cited by 1
Imbalances: Sources of All Change
Knoflacher, M. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-69423-7_8
ThyZ is a thylakoidal membrane protein influencing cell division and acclimation to high light in the multicellular cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120Preprint
Valladares, A., & Antonia Herrero, B. (2024) · doi:10.22541/au.172454833.33312742/v1
Exploring the macroevolutionary impact of ecosystem engineers using an individual‐based eco‐evolutionary simulation
Smith, T. J., Parry, L. A., Dunn, F. S., & Garwood, R. J. (2024) · Palaeontology · doi:10.1111/pala.12701 · Cited by 1
“The Great Oxygenation Event, which resulted in a fundamental shift in the composition of Earth’s atmosphere, is associated with the evolution of photosystems in cyanobacteria (Schirrmeister et al .”
Forests in the future - No forest, no future
Zanella, A. (2024) · Forest - Rivista di Selvicoltura ed Ecologia Forestale · doi:10.3832/efor4729-021
Photosynthetic fractionation of carbon: A biological driver for the Neoproterozoic Shuram carbon isotope excursion
Furness, E. N., & Mitchell, E. G. (2025) · Precambrian Research · doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2025.107702 · Cited by 1
“Major evolutionary innovations frequently cause large changes in their abiotic environments (Schirrmeister et al., 2015; McMahon and Davies, 2018).”
Light-induced structural adaptation of the bundle-shaped phycobilisome from thylakoid-lacking cyanobacterium Gloeobacter violaceus
Ma, J., You, X., Sun, S., & Sui, S.-F. (2025) · doi:10.1101/2025.05.12.653420 · Cited by 4
Dysregulated Iron Dynamics in Cancer
Toyokuni, S., & Kong, Y. (2025) · Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks · doi:10.1039/9781837677979-00020
Oxygen and Adult Eye Diseases: Physiology and Pathophysiology
Golmohammadi, M., Gauthier, D. A., Elmaseh, S. A., & Sadun, A. A. (2025) · Advances in Ophthalmology and Optometry · doi:10.1016/j.yaoo.2025.03.003
Calcified cyanobacteria from the Upper Ediacaran of South China
Zhong, Y., Liu, G., Dong, Y., & Algeo, T. J. (2025) · Frontiers in Marine Science · doi:10.3389/fmars.2025.1627553
RNA-Binding moonlighting function of metabolic enzymes reveals deep evolutionary roots in CyanobacteriaPreprint
Anudarsh, S., Jadhav, D. B., & Roy, S. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.09.28.679013
Adaptation à la niche écologique chez deux représentants majeurs du phytoplancton marin, Synechococcus et Prochlorococcus : des gènes à l'écosystème
Doré, H. (2017) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/e21a7206zd459z4cc0zb165z95b723175551
Towards a chronology of life using Lateral Gene Transfers
Davín, A. (2017) · doi:10.70675/ac7907fbz1356z461azb759z5770743b3e29
Origins and early evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes
Ponce-Toledo, R. I. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/e80da54ez4400z4af2z90ccza6b6fb5b6bc7
“4 bya may have been favored by the evolution of multicellular cyanobacterial lineages (Schirrmeister et al., 2015).”
Background
Life before oxygen : linking phylogenomics and paleogeochemistry to unravel the nature and function of microbiota in the early Archean
Adam, P. S. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/16d801b1z23dfz475az8b07zaf20d0424d35
Recherche de séquences environnementales inconnues d’intérêt médical/biologique par l’utilisation de grands réseaux de similarité de séquences
Lannes, R. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/0b6a9095z5dfaz4dd3zbc18z8dabe66a4e67
Pigment diversity in marine Synechococcus sp. : molecular basis, evolution and ecological role
Grébert, T. (2017) · doi:10.70675/4404bcb5z637cz473ez8901z59021387d37c
Carotenoid translocation and protein evolution in cyanobacterial photoprotection
Muzzopappa, F. (2019) · doi:10.70675/87b3759az8a76z42e5z8f7az0eaf3b87a5a0
Relation entre le métabolisme lipidique membranaire et l’adaptation à la température chez les picocyanobactéries marines du genre Synechococcus
Breton, S. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/dc89f459zd97bz4026zbe19zd6795142a959

Authors: Schirrmeister, B. E., Gugger, M., & Donoghue, P. C. J.
Affiliations: University of Bristol (GB)
Institut Pasteur (FR)
ORCID: Gugger, Muriel
Donoghue, Philip C. J.
Venue: Palaeontology
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2015-06-23
Volume: 58
Issue: 5
Pages: 769-785
ISSN: 0031-0239 (ISSN-L)
1475-4983
DOI: 10.1111/pala.12178
PMC: PMC4755140
OpenAlex: W1831957949
Semantic Scholar: 6e03cd37924a78a193bde6f1580e42699eee46c3
Cited by: 304
References: 102
Citations by year: 2026: 24 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 4
FWCI: 8.40
Type: journal article
Language: en
Update notices: correction (2015-08-14)
Open access: hybrid
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)
Locations: Palaeontology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Explore Bristol Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J00538X/1)
European Commission (FP7 - PEOPLE - 2012 - IEF) (PIEF-GA-2012-330849)
Swiss National Science Foundation (PBZHP3_147232)
Topics: Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Protist diversity and phylogeny
Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
Keywords: cyanobacteria, Great Oxidation Event, multicellularity, cyanobacterial evolution, Archean, phylogenomics, character reconstruction, cyanobacterial genome, cyanobacterial diversity

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-08, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

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Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils

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