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Co‐evolution of early Earth environments and microbial life

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From Nature Reviews Microbiology

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Abstract

Two records of Earth history capture the evolution of life and its co-evolving ecosystems with interpretable fidelity: the geobiological and geochemical traces preserved in rocks and the evolutionary histories captured within genomes. The earliest vestiges of life are recognized mostly in isotopic fingerprints of specific microbial metabolisms, whereas fossils and organic biomarkers become important later. Molecular biology provides lineages that can be overlayed on geologic and geochemical records of evolving life. All these data lie within a framework of biospheric evolution that is primarily characterized by the transition from an oxygen-poor to an oxygen-rich world. In this Review, we explore the history of microbial life on Earth and the degree to which it shaped, and was shaped by, fundamental transitions in the chemical properties of the oceans, continents and atmosphere. We examine the diversity and evolution of early metabolic processes, their couplings with biogeochemical cycles and their links to the oxygenation of the early biosphere. We discuss the distinction between the beginnings of metabolisms and their subsequent proliferation and their capacity to shape surface environments on a planetary scale. The evolution of microbial life and its ecological impacts directly mirror the Earth’s chemical and physical evolution through cause-and-effect relationships.

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Fig. 1: Evolution of atmospheric oxygen content on Earth through time.
Fig. 2: The biogeochemical nitrogen cycle on Earth.
Fig. 3: The biogeochemical iron cycle on Earth.
Fig. 4: The biogeochemical sulfur cycle on Earth.
Fig. 5: Co-evolution of oceans and microbial pathways on Earth through time.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided through the NASA Astrobiology Institute under Cooperative Agreement No. NNA15BB03A issued through the Science Mission Directorate and the NASA Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (ICAR).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Timothy W. Lyons, Christopher J. Tino.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    Timothy W. Lyons & Christopher J. Tino

  2. Virtual Planetary Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Timothy W. Lyons, Rika E. Anderson & Eva E. Stüeken

  3. Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Gregory P. Fournier

  4. Biology Department, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, USA

    Rika E. Anderson

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

    William D. Leavitt

  6. Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

    William D. Leavitt

  7. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Kurt O. Konhauser

  8. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    Eva E. Stüeken

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T.W.L., C.J.T. and E.E.S. contributed to all aspects of the manuscript. G.P.F., R.E.A., W.D.L. and K.O.K. contributed to the research and compilation of materials for the article, to meaningful discussions and to initial drafting of at least one section and corresponding figure within the article.

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Lyons, T.W., Tino, C.J., Fournier, G.P. et al. Co‐evolution of early Earth environments and microbial life. Nat Rev Microbiol 22, 572–586 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01044-y

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