Archaean green-light environments drove the evolution of cyanobacteria's light-harvesting system.

ABSTRACT: Cyanobacteria induced the great oxidation event around 2.4 billion years ago, probably triggering the rise in aerobic biodiversity. While chlorophylls are universal pigments used by all phototrophic organisms, cyanobacteria use additional pigments called phycobilins for their light-harvesting antennas-phycobilisomes-to absorb light energy at complementary wavelengths to chlorophylls. Nonetheless, an enigma persists: why did cyanobacteria need phycobilisomes? Here, we demonstrate through numerical simulations that the underwater light spectrum during the Archaean era was probably predominantly green owing to oxidized Fe(III) precipitation. The green-light environments, probably shaped by photosynthetic organisms, may have directed their own photosynthetic evolution. Genetic engineering of e

SUBMITTER: Matsuo T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11976284 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature