![Images of microfossil specimens of Navifusa majensis. (Demoulin et al., Nature, 2024) [L] one of the microfossils with stacks of thylakoids highlighted using yellow bars [R] magnification of the end of the cell.](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/FossilCellsProvide.png?resize=1200%2C838&ssl=1)
Today oxygenic photosynthesis is unique to cyanobacteria and their plastid relatives within eukaryotes. Although its origin before the Great Oxidation Event is still debated 1,2,3,4, the accumulation of O2 profoundly […]
cyanobacteria
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Deep Within An Inhospitable Desert Is A Window To The First Life On Earth
CU Boulder geologist Brian Hynek has helped to document what may be a unique kind of ecosystem on Earth—and a possible window into the earliest stages of life on this […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Press Release, Proxima Centauri, Space Agriculture, TRAPPIST-1
A Spectrum Of Possibilities: Insights Into The Evolution Of Far-red Light Photosynthesis
A collaborative study led by Dr. Christopher Gisriel at Yale University and Dr. Tanai Cardona at Queen Mary University of London, published in Frontiers in Plant Science, offers new insight […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Hapalosiphonacean Cyanobacteria (Nostocales) Thrived Amid Emerging Embryophytes In An Early Devonian (407-million-year-old) Landscape
Cyanobacteria have a long evolutionary history, well documented in marine rocks. They are also abundant and diverse in terrestrial environments; however, although phylogenies suggest that the group colonized land early […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors
Life Detection and Microbial Biomarker Profiling with Signs of Life Detector-Life Detector Chip During a Mars Drilling Simulation Campaign in the Hyperarid Core of the Atacama Desert
The low organic matter content in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, together with abrupt temperature shifts and high ultraviolet radiation at its surface, makes this region one of […]
Posted inCommercial & Private Sector, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Space Stations, Status Report
Desiccated Cyanobacteria Serve As Efficient Plasmid DNA Carrier In Space Flight
Effective transport of biological systems as cargo during space travel is a critical requirement to use synthetic biology and biomanufacturing in outer space.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Tricorder Tech: Genetic Methods Enable The Use Of Fossil Lipids As Biomarkers For Oxygen-producing Primordial Bacteria
Cyanobacteria are a key species in Earth’s history, as they introduced atmospheric oxygen for the first time. The analysis of their evolution therefore provides important insights into the formation of […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Plant Biology, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
Oxygenic Photosynthetic Responses Of Cyanobacteria Exposed Under An M-dwarf Starlight Simulator: Implications For Exoplanet’s Habitability
Introduction: The search for life on distant exoplanets is expected to rely on atmospheric biosignatures detection, such as oxygen of biological origin.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Slowdown In Earth's Rotation Could Have Affected The Oxygen Content Of Its Atmosphere
Virtually all oxygen on Earth was and is produced by photosynthesis, which was invented by tiny organisms, the cyanobacteria, when our planet was still a rather uninhabitable place.
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A New Dimension to Cyanobacteria
Marine cyanobacteria are the tiny ocean plants that form the base of the ocean’s food chain. Other organisms feed on them and are nourished by the oxygen they provide. Marine […]