Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis

J. William Schopf; Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev; Malcolm R. Walter; Martin J. Van Kranendonk; Kenneth H. Williford; Reinhard Kozdon; John W. Valley; Victor A. Gallardo; Carola Espinoza; David T. Flannery

doi:10.1073/pnas.1419241112

Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis

J. William Schopf, Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev, Malcolm R. Walter, Martin J. Van Kranendonk, Kenneth H. Williford, Reinhard Kozdon, John W. Valley, Victor A. Gallardo, Carola Espinoza, David T. Flannery

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The recent discovery of a deep-water sulfur-cycling microbial biota in the ~2.3-Ga Western Australian Turee Creek Group opened a new window to life's early history. We now report a second such subseafloor-inhabiting community from the Western Australian ~1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation. Permineralized in cherts formed during and soon after the 2.4-to 2.2-Ga "Great Oxidation Event," these two biotas may evidence an opportunistic response to the mid-Precambrian increase of environmental oxygen that resulted in increased production of metabolically useable sulfate and nitrate. The marked similarity of microbial morphology, habitat, and organization of these fossil communities to their modern counterparts documents exceptionally slow (hypobradytelic) change that, if paralleled by their molecular biology, would evidence extreme evolutionary stasis.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2087-2092
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	112
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1419241112
Publication status	Published - Feb 17 2015
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Great Oxidation Event
Microbial evolution
Null hypothesis
Precambrian microorganisms
Sulfur bacteria

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

Access to Document

10.1073/pnas.1419241112

Cite this

Schopf, J. W., Kudryavtsev, A. B., Walter, M. R., Van Kranendonk, M. J., Williford, K. H., Kozdon, R., Valley, J. W., Gallardo, V. A., Espinoza, C., & Flannery, D. T. (2015). Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(7), 2087-2092. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1419241112

Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis. / Schopf, J. William; Kudryavtsev, Anatoliy B.; Walter, Malcolm R. et al.

In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 112, No. 7, 17.02.2015, p. 2087-2092.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Schopf, JW, Kudryavtsev, AB, Walter, MR, Van Kranendonk, MJ, Williford, KH, Kozdon, R, Valley, JW, Gallardo, VA, Espinoza, C & Flannery, DT 2015, 'Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 112, no. 7, pp. 2087-2092. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1419241112

@article{347285e2c2e34ebda000619049352015,

title = "Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis",

abstract = "The recent discovery of a deep-water sulfur-cycling microbial biota in the ~2.3-Ga Western Australian Turee Creek Group opened a new window to life's early history. We now report a second such subseafloor-inhabiting community from the Western Australian ~1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation. Permineralized in cherts formed during and soon after the 2.4-to 2.2-Ga {"}Great Oxidation Event,{"} these two biotas may evidence an opportunistic response to the mid-Precambrian increase of environmental oxygen that resulted in increased production of metabolically useable sulfate and nitrate. The marked similarity of microbial morphology, habitat, and organization of these fossil communities to their modern counterparts documents exceptionally slow (hypobradytelic) change that, if paralleled by their molecular biology, would evidence extreme evolutionary stasis.",

keywords = "Great Oxidation Event, Microbial evolution, Null hypothesis, Precambrian microorganisms, Sulfur bacteria",

author = "Schopf, {J. William} and Kudryavtsev, {Anatoliy B.} and Walter, {Malcolm R.} and {Van Kranendonk}, {Martin J.} and Williford, {Kenneth H.} and Reinhard Kozdon and Valley, {John W.} and Gallardo, {Victor A.} and Carola Espinoza and Flannery, {David T.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 PNAS.",

year = "2015",

month = feb,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1419241112",

language = "English",

volume = "112",

pages = "2087--2092",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",

number = "7",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis

AU - Schopf, J. William

AU - Kudryavtsev, Anatoliy B.

AU - Walter, Malcolm R.

AU - Van Kranendonk, Martin J.

AU - Williford, Kenneth H.

AU - Kozdon, Reinhard

AU - Valley, John W.

AU - Gallardo, Victor A.

AU - Espinoza, Carola

AU - Flannery, David T.

PY - 2015/2/17

Y1 - 2015/2/17

N2 - The recent discovery of a deep-water sulfur-cycling microbial biota in the ~2.3-Ga Western Australian Turee Creek Group opened a new window to life's early history. We now report a second such subseafloor-inhabiting community from the Western Australian ~1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation. Permineralized in cherts formed during and soon after the 2.4-to 2.2-Ga "Great Oxidation Event," these two biotas may evidence an opportunistic response to the mid-Precambrian increase of environmental oxygen that resulted in increased production of metabolically useable sulfate and nitrate. The marked similarity of microbial morphology, habitat, and organization of these fossil communities to their modern counterparts documents exceptionally slow (hypobradytelic) change that, if paralleled by their molecular biology, would evidence extreme evolutionary stasis.

AB - The recent discovery of a deep-water sulfur-cycling microbial biota in the ~2.3-Ga Western Australian Turee Creek Group opened a new window to life's early history. We now report a second such subseafloor-inhabiting community from the Western Australian ~1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation. Permineralized in cherts formed during and soon after the 2.4-to 2.2-Ga "Great Oxidation Event," these two biotas may evidence an opportunistic response to the mid-Precambrian increase of environmental oxygen that resulted in increased production of metabolically useable sulfate and nitrate. The marked similarity of microbial morphology, habitat, and organization of these fossil communities to their modern counterparts documents exceptionally slow (hypobradytelic) change that, if paralleled by their molecular biology, would evidence extreme evolutionary stasis.

KW - Great Oxidation Event

KW - Microbial evolution

KW - Null hypothesis

KW - Precambrian microorganisms

KW - Sulfur bacteria

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923166586&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84923166586&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1419241112

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1419241112

M3 - Article

C2 - 25646436

AN - SCOPUS:84923166586

VL - 112

SP - 2087

EP - 2092

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

SN - 0027-8424

IS - 7

ER -

Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this