Emergence of Oxygenic Photosynthesis
c. 3.0-2.7 BYA · Prehistoric
Between 3.0 and 2.7 billion years ago, cyanobacteria evolved the capacity to perform oxygenic photosynthesis, using water as an electron donor and producing oxygen as a byproduct. Evidence comes from microfossils, stromatolites, molecular biomarkers, and geological indicators of localized oxygen production. This process was enabled by Photosystem II, which could split water molecules. The emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis altered Earth's biogeochemical cycles and set the stage for the Great Oxidation Event hundreds of millions of years later.
Key Figures
Malcolm WalterRoger BuickJ. William SchopfAndrew H. Knoll
Locations
Pilbara CratonShark BayTumbiana Formation
Topics
stromatolitesoxygencyanobacteriaphotosynthesismicrofossilsevolution
Connected Events — 13 Connections
Produced oxygen that accumulated toward Great Oxidation Event
Evolved from earlier photosynthetic pathway documented by Earliest Evidence of Anoxygenic Photosynthesis
Created the atmospheric oxygen through the Great Oxidation Event that enabled the metabolic complexity required for the large multicellular organisms preserved in the Francevillian Biota Francevillian Biota: Early Evidence of Macroscopic Organisms
Oxygenic photosynthesis by cyanobacteria created the oxygen-rich environment essential for aerobic respiration, which became the metabolic foundation for mitochondria - the energy-producing organelles that define eukaryotic cells through endosymbiosis Emergence of Eukaryotic Cells
Generated atmospheric oxygen through the Great Oxidation Event, creating the oxygenated marine environments essential for aerobic respiration that powered the energy-intensive metabolism required by large, complex Ediacaran organisms Ediacaran Biota Emerges: First Complex Multicellular Organisms
Oxygenic photosynthesis produced the atmospheric oxygen that made aerobic respiration via mitochondrial endosymbiosis advantageous Endosymbiotic Acquisition of Mitochondria
Oxygenic photosynthesis by cyanobacteria produced the oxygen that accumulated during the Great Oxidation Event Great Oxidation Event Transforms Earth's Atmosphere
Priestley isolated the same gas that oxygenic photosynthesis had been producing for billions of years Priestley Isolates Oxygen
The diverse microbial communities and reef-building capabilities demonstrated in Strelley Pool stromatolites provided the evolutionary foundation for cyanobacteria that later developed oxygenic photosynthesis Strelley Pool Stromatolites Form
Early terrestrial microbial communities established the foundational ecosystems and metabolic pathways that enabled the later evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis in cyanobacteria Earliest Evidence of Terrestrial Life
Microbial sulfur metabolism provided essential biochemical pathways and electron transport mechanisms that later enabled cyanobacteria to evolve oxygenic photosynthesis, which required sophisticated electron transport chains to extract electrons from water Earliest Evidence of Microbial Sulfur Metabolism
Chemosynthetic microbial ecosystems dominated before oxygenic photosynthesis introduced an alternative energy pathway Chemosynthetic Microfossils in Barberton Hydrothermal Veins
Microbial mat ecosystems provided the community framework in which oxygenic photosynthesis later evolved Microbial Mat Ecosystems Established
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