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Schopf JW. Pioneers of Origin of Life Studies-Darwin, Oparin, Haldane, Miller, Oró-And the Oldest Known Records of Life. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:1345. [PMID: 39459645 PMCID: PMC11509469 DOI: 10.3390/life14101345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2024] [Revised: 10/12/2024] [Accepted: 10/16/2024] [Indexed: 10/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The two basic approaches to elucidating how life began both date from Darwin. The first, that of the experimentalists, stems from Darwin's famous "warm little pond" letter to Joseph Hooker of 1871. This approach, an attempt to replicate the sequential events leading to life's origin, is exemplified by the "primordial soup" hypothesis of A.I. Oparin (1924) and J.B.S. Haldane (1929); the Miller-Urey laboratory synthesis of amino acids under possible primitive Earth conditions (1953); and Joan Oró's nonbiological synthesis of the nucleic acid adenine (1959). The second approach, that of the observationalists who search for relevant evidence in the geological record, dates from Darwin's 1859 On the Origin of Species, in which he laments the "inexplicable" absence of a pre-Cambrian fossil record. Darwin's concern spurred a century of search that was ultimately rewarded by Stanley Tyler's 1953 discovery of diverse microscopic fossils in the ~1900 Ma Gunflint Chert of southern Canada. Tyler's find was soon followed by a cascade of discoveries worldwide; the establishment of a new field of science, Precambrian paleobiology; and, more recently, the discovery of 3400 and ~3465 Ma Paleoarchean microfossils, establishing that primordial life evolved early, far, and fast. Though progress has been made, much remains to be learned in the foci of this Origin of Life 2024 volume, for which this essay is the history-reviewing "stage setter".
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Affiliation(s)
- J William Schopf
- Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
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Barlow EV, House CH, Liu MC, Wetherington MT, Van Kranendonk MJ. Distinctive microfossil supports early Paleoproterozoic rise in complex cellular organisation. GEOBIOLOGY 2024; 22:e12576. [PMID: 37803496 DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/08/2023]
Abstract
The great oxidation event (GOE), ~2.4 billion years ago, caused fundamental changes to the chemistry of Earth's surface environments. However, the effect of these changes on the biosphere is unknown, due to a worldwide lack of well-preserved fossils from this time. Here, we investigate exceptionally preserved, large spherical aggregate (SA) microfossils permineralised in chert from the c. 2.4 Ga Turee Creek Group in Western Australia. Field and petrographic observations, Raman spectroscopic mapping, and in situ carbon isotopic analyses uncover insights into the morphology, habitat, reproduction and metabolism of this unusual form, whose distinctive, SA morphology has no known counterpart in the fossil record. Comparative analysis with microfossils from before the GOE reveals the large SA microfossils represent a step-up in cellular organisation. Morphological comparison to extant micro-organisms indicates the SAs have more in common with coenobial algae than coccoidal bacteria, emphasising the complexity of this microfossil form. The remarkable preservation here provides a unique window into the biosphere, revealing an increase in the complexity of life coinciding with the GOE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica V Barlow
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (CCFS), Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Christopher H House
- Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Ming-Chang Liu
- Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, USA
| | - Maxwell T Wetherington
- Materials Research Institute and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Martin J Van Kranendonk
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (CCFS), Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Djokic T, Frese M, Woods A, Dettmann M, Flemons P, Brink F, McCurry MR. Inferring the age and environmental characteristics of fossil sites using citizen science. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0284388. [PMID: 37068061 PMCID: PMC10109468 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Not all fossil sites preserve microfossils that can be extracted using acid digestion, which may leave knowledge gaps regarding a site's age or environmental characteristics. Here we report on a citizen science approach that was developed to identify microfossils in situ on the surface of sedimentary rocks. Samples were collected from McGraths Flat, a recently discovered Miocene rainforest lake deposit located in central New South Wales, Australia. Composed entirely of iron-oxyhydroxide, McGraths Flat rocks cannot be processed using typical microfossil extraction protocols e.g., acid digestion. Instead, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to automatically acquire 25,200 high-resolution images from the surface of three McGraths Flat samples, covering a total area of 1.85 cm2. The images were published on the citizen science portal DigiVol, through which 271 citizen scientists helped to identify 300 pollen and spores. The microfossil information gained in this study is biostratigraphically relevant and can be used to constrain the environmental characteristics of McGraths Flat. Our findings suggest that automated image acquisition coupled with an evaluation by citizen scientists is an effective method of determining the age and environmental characteristics of fossiliferous rocks that cannot be investigated using traditional methods such as acid digestion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara Djokic
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- ESSRC, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Michael Frese
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Health and Biosecurity, Black Mountain, Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Australia
- Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Adam Woods
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Mary Dettmann
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Geosciences, Queensland Museum, Queensland, Australia
| | - Paul Flemons
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Frank Brink
- Centre for Advanced Microscopy, Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Matthew R McCurry
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- ESSRC, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
- Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., United States of America
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Coutant M, Lepot K, Fadel A, Addad A, Richard E, Troadec D, Ventalon S, Sugitani K, Javaux EJ. Distinguishing cellular from abiotic spheroidal microstructures in the ca. 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool Formation. GEOBIOLOGY 2022; 20:599-622. [PMID: 35712885 DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The morphogenesis of most carbonaceous microstructures that resemble microfossils in Archean (4-2.5 Ga old) rocks remains debated. The associated carbonaceous matter may even-in some cases-derive from abiotic organic molecules. Mineral growths associated with organic matter migration may mimic microbial cells, some anatomical features, and known microfossils-in particular those with simple spheroid shapes. Here, spheroid microstructures from a chert of the ca. 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool Formation (SPF) of the Pilbara Craton (Western Australia) were imaged and analyzed with a combination of high-resolution in situ techniques. This provides new insights into carbonaceous matter distributions and their relationships with the crystallographic textures of associated quartz. Thus, we describe five new types of spheroids and discuss their morphogenesis. In at least three types of microstructures, wall coalescence argues for migration of carbonaceous matter onto abiotic siliceous spherulites or diffusion in poorly crystalline silica. The nanoparticulate walls of these coalescent structures often cut across multiple quartz crystals, consistent with migration in/on silica prior to quartz recrystallization. Sub-continuous walls lying at quartz boundaries occur in some coalescent vesicles. This weakens the "continuous carbonaceous wall" criterion proposed to support cellular inferences. In contrast, some clustered spheroids display wrinkled sub-continuous double walls, and a large sphere shows a thick sub-continuous wall with pustules and depressions. These features appear consistent with post-mortem cell alteration, although abiotic morphogenesis remains difficult to rule out. We compared these siliceous and carbonaceous microstructures to coalescent pyritic spheroids from the same sample, which likely formed as "colloidal" structures in hydrothermal context. The pyrites display a smaller size and only limited carbonaceous coatings, arguing that they could not have acted as precursors to siliceous spheroids. This study revealed new textural features arguing for abiotic morphogenesis of some Archean spheroids. The absence of these features in distinct types of spheroids leaves open the microfossil hypothesis in the same rock. Distinction of such characteristics could help addressing further the origin of other candidate microfossils. This study calls for similar investigations of metamorphosed microfossiliferous rocks and of the products of in vitro growth of cell-mimicking structures in presence of organics and silica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Coutant
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187, LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, Lille, France
- Early Life Traces & Evolution-Astrobiology, UR Astrobiology, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Kevin Lepot
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187, LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, Lille, France
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), France
| | - Alexandre Fadel
- UMR 8207 - UMET - Unité Matériaux et Transformations, Univ. Lille, CNRS, INRAE, Centrale Lille, Lille, France
| | - Ahmed Addad
- UMR 8207 - UMET - Unité Matériaux et Transformations, Univ. Lille, CNRS, INRAE, Centrale Lille, Lille, France
| | - Elodie Richard
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, INSERM, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, US 41 - UAR 2014 - PLBS, Lille, France
| | - David Troadec
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, Junia, Univ. Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, UMR 8520 - IEMN - Institut d'Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie, Lille, France
| | - Sandra Ventalon
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187, LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, Lille, France
| | - Kenichiro Sugitani
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Emmanuelle J Javaux
- Early Life Traces & Evolution-Astrobiology, UR Astrobiology, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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