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

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

38 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 - 17 Feb 2015
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Great Oxidation Event
Microbial evolution
Null hypothesis
Precambrian microorganisms
Sulfur bacteria

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10.1073/pnas.1419241112

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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

Schopf, J. William ; Kudryavtsev, Anatoliy B. ; Walter, Malcolm R. ; Van Kranendonk, Martin J. ; Williford, Kenneth H. ; Kozdon, Reinhard ; Valley, John W. ; Gallardo, Victor A. ; Espinoza, Carola ; Flannery, David T. / Sulfur-cycling fossil bacteria from the 1.8-Ga Duck Creek Formation provide promising evidence of evolution's null hypothesis. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015 ; Vol. 112, No. 7. pp. 2087-2092.

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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.}",

year = "2015",

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day = "17",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1419241112",

language = "English",

volume = "112",

pages = "2087--2092",

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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

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.; Van Kranendonk, Martin J.; Williford, Kenneth H.; Kozdon, Reinhard; Valley, John W.; Gallardo, Victor A.; Espinoza, Carola; Flannery, David T.

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

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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

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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.

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SP - 2087

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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

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Keywords

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