In the next years, several space missions will search for evidence of life on exoplanets, focusing on robust biosignatures associated with oxygenic photosynthesis, including atmospheric oxygen accumulation and the Vegetation […]
Photosynthesis
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release
Anabaena Learns A New Trick – Cyanobacteria Surprise Scientists With Evolutionary Shift
Photosynthetic bacteria helped shape Planet Earth. Among them are cyanobacteria that produced the oxygen in our atmosphere and made complex life possible, captivating scientists for decades. Now, researchers at the […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science
Stolen Chloroplasts Maintained By Host-made Proteins Offer Clues To Plant Cell Origins
Every plant cell is the product of a biological merger billions of years ago. Chloroplasts are key structures in plants and algae that capture sunlight, but originally they were free-living […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report
Gypsum Sustains Microbial Life Under Extreme Conditions – This Could Help Us Study Mars
Terraces near Flamencos Lagoon in the southeastern Salar de Pajonales (Chile), located at 3,517 m above sea level in the arid Altiplano, host relic gypsum stromatolites and crusts formed under […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Plant Biology, Press Release
How Proteins Crucial To Photosynthesis On Earth Are Arranged
Research led by scientists at Washington State University has revealed insights on how plants form a microscopic landscape of proteins crucial to photosynthesis, the basis of Earth’s food and energy […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
How Microbes Use Earth’s Ancient Carbon
Hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor release carbon dioxide that is many million years old. This old carbon originates from the Earth’s interior, and it escapes either directly from the […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Status Report
Priority Effects Inhibit The Repeated Evolution Of Phototrophy
The emergence of phototrophy is one of the most significant innovations in the history of life, vastly increasing available metabolic energy. Phototrophy is, however, known to have arisen only twice.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Plant Biology, Status Report
Photosynthetic Exergy I. Thermodynamic Limits For Habitable-zone Planets
Photosynthesis is central to Earth’s biosphere and a prime candidate for sustaining complex life on habitable exoplanets, yet a thermodynamically consistent treatment of the work potential of stellar radiation at […]
Posted inGaia - Planetary Perspectives, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Press Release
From Sea To Soil: Molecular Changes Suggest How Algae Evolved Into Plants
Before plants evolved, vegetative life consisted of primitive green algae living in the sea. Like plants, these algae survived by performing photosynthesis, turning sunlight into energy. However, little light reaches […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, TRAPPIST-1
Dearth of Photosynthetically Active Radiation Suggests No Complex Life on Late M-Star Exoplanets
The rise of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere during the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) occurred about 2.3 billion years ago. There is considerably greater uncertainty for the origin of oxygenic […]