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SUMMARY:Interpreting the record of photosynthesis on the early Earth - Tan
 ja Bosak (MIT)
DTSTART:20181106T160000Z
DTEND:20181106T170000Z
UID:TALK112651@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Richard Booth
DESCRIPTION:Photosynthetic microbes have converted the light energy into t
 he chemical energy of organic carbon and oxidized compounds such as oxygen
  for billions of years. Early on\, these microbes are thought to have used
  sulfide\, reduced iron and organic compounds as electron donors for carbo
 n fixation. Water-splitting\, oxygen-producing photosystems evolved later 
 and irretrievably changed the compositions of ecosystems\, surface rocks\,
  water bodies\, and the atmosphere. When and how this happened are still m
 ajor questions in Earth history\, biology\, geochemistry and planetary evo
 lution. My laboratory addresses these questions by asking how microbial be
 haviors\, metabolisms and fossilization processes shaped the sedimentary r
 ecord. Our work uses experiments to probe the preservation potential of di
 fferent microbial communities\, compares experimental results to the actua
 l record\, and identifies trends in the record that can be best explained 
 by either oxygen-producing or anoxygenic photosynthesis. Combined informat
 ion from experiments\, modern genomes of oxygen-producing microbes and the
  very long fossil record of the same microbes is combined and used to cali
 brate molecular clock models and time the origin and events in the evoluti
 on of oxygenic photosynthesis in deep time. 
LOCATION:Martin Ryle Seminar Room\, Kavli Institute
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