Photosynthesis Archives

A team of geomicrobiologists walking to a sampling site in a South African gold mine. At this site almost 3 km deep beneath the surface, the researchers can access one of the deepest and oldest ecosystems on Earth. Credit: Emil Ruff

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Sample Return

Journey to the Center of the Earth: The Search for Dark Oxygen

by Keith CowingJanuary 8, 2025January 8, 2025

By Emily Greenhalgh – The elevator ride down was quicker than he expected. South Africa has the deepest active mines on Earth. And MBL scientist Emil Ruff and an international […]

Bright field microscopic image corresponding to pTERF image showing control S. cerevisiae cox 2-60, and chimeras S. cerevisiae cox2-60-SynJEC3, S. cerevisiae cox2-60-SynBD2, S. cerevisiae cox2-60-SynBD3 and S. cerevisiae cox2-60-SynBD8. Marged image of bright field chimeric cells (at gray) and pTIRF (X100) microscopic images can be predicted using 561 nm laser for visualization of endosymbiont autofluorescence chlorophyl (in red Em.=653/95 nm) from photosynthetically enabled engineered Syn. No such signal was detected from control yeast cells. SP8 Fluorescent confocal microscopic (x63) image of control S. cerevisiae cox 2–60, and endosymbiontic chimera. Marged images: host cell was stained using Conn A-FITC (emission at 510–520 nm wavelength, in green) and cyanobacterial autofluorescence can detected at 616-650 nm wavelength range. The experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. -- Nature

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

New Insight Into Chloroplast Evolution

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2024December 12, 2024

One of the most momentous events in the history of life involved endosymbiosis — a process by which one organism engulfed another and, instead of ingesting it, incorporated its DNA […]

Habitable zone for a white dwarf (blue region) at ages of 2, 6, and 10 Gyr compared to the habitable zone of the red dwarf TRAPPIST-1 (orange region). The inset shows the size comparison of a typical 0.6M⊙ white dwarf (cyan region) to that of TRAPPIST-1 (pink region). The optimistic habitable zone for TRAPPIST-1 is calculated from the recent Venus and early Mars limits from Kopparapu et al. (2013) using the luminosity and effective temperature from Van Grootel et al. (2018). The magenta region specifies where overlap of the two habitable zones occurs. The dashed black line shows the orbital radius at which an Earth-like planet around a 0.6M⊙ white dwarf stays in the habitable zone for the maximum amount of time (i.e., maximum habitable lifetime), and the dashed red line shows the Roche limit (i.e., tidal disruption limit) for such a system. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Potential For Life To Exist And Be Detected On Earth-like Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2024December 2, 2024

With recent observations confirming exoplanets orbiting white dwarfs, there is growing interest in exploring and quantifying the habitability of temperate rocky planets around white dwarfs.

Bioinspired hydrogels that convert water into hydrogen fuel using sunlight, effectively mimicking natural processes to create a sustainable energy solution. Credit Kosuke Okeyoshi from JAIST.

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Life Support Systems, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Life Science

Hydrogels Harness Sunlight: A Step Closer To Artificial Photosynthesis

by Keith CowingNovember 7, 2024November 7, 2024

Mimicking how plants convert sunlight into energy has long been a dream for scientists aiming to create renewable energy solutions.

Plants on a world orbiting a M Dwarf sun - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Plant Biology, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report

Optimizing Photosynthetic Light-harvesting Under Stars: Simple And General Antenna Models

by Keith CowingSeptember 22, 2024

In the next 10–20 years, several observatories will aim to detect the signatures of oxygenic photosynthesis on exoplanets, though targets must be carefully selected. Most known potentially habitable exo-planets orbit […]

“Hyper-realistic” RGB images of Control at a phase of 40°, generated with PSG GlobES. Clockwise starting from the top left: (a) true color image, without BVLO. Proxima b appears orange because Proxima Centauri is a cool star which emits mostly red light in the visible. In this image, the darkest regions on the planet are oceans, and the lighter regions are ice or clouds. To identify clouds, compare with b. (b) the cloud cover fraction, with high numbers indicating grid cells mostly covered with clouds. (c) false color image of Control with BVLO. The BVLO appear purple because of Qy feature strongly absorbs in the green channel at 1um. (d) same as a, but with BVLO added (Amax = 1). The BVLO fill in the open water regions. To easily see regions of BVLO coverage, compare with purple regions in c. -- astro-ph.EP

Analog Studies, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Proxima Centauri, Status Report

Detectability Simulations of a NIR Surface Biosignature on Proxima Centauri b with Future Space Observatories

by Keith CowingSeptember 11, 2024September 11, 2024

Telescope missions are currently being designed which will make direct imaging of habitable exoplanets possible in the near future, and studies are needed to quantify the detectability of biosignature features […]

CTD-rosette with 12 big waterbottles into the ocean CREDIT Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Michael Gutsche (CC-BY 4.0)

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Plant Biology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Iceworld Update: Photosynthesis in Near Darkness

by Keith CowingSeptember 5, 2024

Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels. This is the result of an international study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end […]

Polymetallic nodules on the seafloor -- NOAA

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Dwellers In The Deep: Biological Consequences Of Dark Oxygen

by Keith CowingAugust 15, 2024August 15, 2024

The striking recent putative detection of “dark oxygen” (dark O2) sources on the abyssal ocean floor in the Pacific at ∼4 km depth raises the intriguing scenario that complex (i.e., […]

Phylogenetic tree of bacteria showing the occurrence of respiratory quinones. Quinones with high redox potential (UQ, PQ, mPQ) occur only in aerobic Nitrospirota, Pseudomonadota, and Cyanobacteriota. Low potential quinones occur in anaerobic Nitrospirota (MK), some Pseudomonadota (MK), and all Cyanobacteriota (PhQ). Asterisks indicate strains in which presence of mPQ has been verified experimentally. See Fig. S11-13 for detailed trees. The maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed from 120 concatenated single copy marker proteins (58) of 547 isolate genomes and metagenome-assembled genomes, covering all bacterial phyla, and rooted using the DST group to approximate the bacterial root (59). Quinone occurrences were derived from instrumental analysis of isolates or inferred from the presence of key biosynthesis genes (SI results; Supplementary Datafile S3; including literature data). Phenotype oxytolerance was curated from strain descriptions. Selected classes/orders denoted inside of rings. Selected phyla denoted outside of rings: ACD, Aquificota-Campylobacterota-Deferribacterota; Desulfob., Desulfobacterota; DST, Deinococcota-Synergistota227 Thermotogota; FA, Firmicutes-Actinobacteriota; FCB, Fibrobacterota-Chlorobacteria-Bacteroidota; Marg., “Candidatus Margulisbacteria”; Myxoc., Myxococcota; Nitrospin., Nitrospinota; PVC, Planctomycetota229 Verrucomicrobiota-Chlamydiota; Seri., “Candidatus Sericytochromatia”; Vamp., Vampirovibrionophyceae -- biorxiv.org

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report

A Novel Quinone Biosynthetic Pathway Illuminates The Evolution Of Aerobic Metabolism

by Keith CowingAugust 12, 2024August 10, 2024

The dominant organisms in modern oxic ecosystems rely on respiratory quinones with high redox potential (HPQs) for electron transport in aerobic respiration and photosynthesis.

Annual mean climate across 2003-2018 derived from ERA5 for (a) surface air temperature Ts [K], (b) biotemperature Tbio [K], (c) precipitation P [mm day−1 ⊕ ], (d) evaporation E [mm day−1 ⊕ ]-- astro-ph.EP

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Novel Metric For Assessing Climatological Surface Habitability

by Keith CowingJuly 23, 2024July 22, 2024

Planetary surface habitability has so far been, in the main, considered in its entirety. The increasing popularity of 3D modelling studies of (exo)planetary climate has highlighted the need for a […]

Photosynthesis

Journey to the Center of the Earth: The Search for Dark Oxygen

New Insight Into Chloroplast Evolution

Potential For Life To Exist And Be Detected On Earth-like Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs

Hydrogels Harness Sunlight: A Step Closer To Artificial Photosynthesis

Optimizing Photosynthetic Light-harvesting Under Stars: Simple And General Antenna Models

Detectability Simulations of a NIR Surface Biosignature on Proxima Centauri b with Future Space Observatories

Iceworld Update: Photosynthesis in Near Darkness

Dwellers In The Deep: Biological Consequences Of Dark Oxygen

A Novel Quinone Biosynthetic Pathway Illuminates The Evolution Of Aerobic Metabolism

A Novel Metric For Assessing Climatological Surface Habitability

Dragonfly Titan Astrobiology Droid Clears Key Tests

Expedition Led By MBARI Researchers Reveals A Remarkable, And Rare, Form Of Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents

SwRI Study Found Primordial Mini-moons May Explain Meteorite Composition

The Galactic Centre G+0.633-0.0604 Molecular Cloud: A New Astrochemical Gold Mine. I. Gas Physical Properties

Researchers Confirm The Cause Of Earth’s Biggest Mass Extinction