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Detailed geological maps of four areas in the Saglek Block a, A geological map of St. John’s Harbour South area (SJHS). The area is composed of the supracrustal rocks, Iqaluk-Uivak Gneisses, Saglek dykes, young granite intrusion and the Proterozoic mafic dikes. The supracrustal rocks form a NS-trending belt, and are intruded by around 3.95 Ga Iqaluk-Uivak Gneisses. The pelitic rocks are predominant in the supracrustal rocks. b, A geological map of Big Island area. The area is subdivided into two parts by a NS-trending fault. The eastern side is composed of the supracrustal rocks, Iqaluk-Uivak Gneisses, Saglek dykes, young granite intrusion and the Proterozoic mafic dykes. The western side is predominant in pelitic rocks, and contains ultramafic and mafic rocks, and carbonate rocks. c, A geological map of a small point of the western coast of the Shuldham Island. The area is characterized by ultramafic rocks with large olivine-needle structures. The ultramafic rock-bearing body consists of harzburgitic ultramafic rocks, olivine-clinopyroxene rocks, clinopyroxene-hornblendite, gabbroic rocks, fine-grained amphibolite and pelitic rocks, in ascending order. d, A geological map of St. John’s Harbour East area (SJHE). A supracrustal belt is composed of some fault-bounded blocks from ultramafic rocks through mafic rocks to sedimentary rocks of pelitic rocks, carbonate rocks and cherts in ascending order. The figures are modified from Figs 2, 3, 5 and 7 of Komiya et al.⁸ with permission.
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The vestiges of life in Eoarchean rocks have the potential to elucidate the origin of life. However, gathering evidence from many terrains is not always possible1,2,3, and biogenic graphite has thus far been found only in the 3.7–3.8 Ga (gigayears ago) Isua supracrustal belt4,5,6,7. Here we present the total organic carbon contents and carbon isoto...
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... . This view is supported by a wealth of biological evidence spanning genomics, biogeography, paleobiology, and other fields of study [5][6][7]. A thorough investigation of evolution not only aids in understanding the origin and development of biodiversity but also reveals the adaptive evolutionary mechanisms underlying the structure, function, and behavior of organisms, providing a crucial theoretical foundation and guidance for research in the field of biology. ...
... Apart from affecting the number of transcripts, how do TEs influence the structure of transcripts? The AS events within transcripts are directly linked to the diversity (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) within the eight cotton species. Parallel lines in the Sankey diagram indicate that orthologous genes with higher numbers of transcript isoforms across the eight cotton species also exhibit higher TE enrichment scores. ...
... d The Sankey diagram illustrates genes that exhibit a negative correlation between the number of transcript isoforms and the TE enrichment scores. By sorting the values of the number of transcript isoforms and the TE enrichment scores of orthologous genes across the eight cotton species in ascending order (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8), the intersecting lines in the Sankey diagram indicate that for orthologous genes with larger numbers of transcript isoforms across the eight cotton species, their TE enrichment scores are lower. This implies a significant negative correlation between the number of transcript isoforms and the TE enrichment scores of genes. ...
Background
Transposable element (TE) expansion has long been known to mediate genome evolution and phenotypic diversity in organisms, but its impact on the evolution of post-transcriptional regulation following species divergence remains unclear.
Results
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Conclusions
Our work highlights the significant role of TE in driving post-transcriptional regulation divergence in the cotton genus. It offers insights for deciphering the evolutionary mechanisms of cotton species and the formation of biological diversity.
... S4) is consistent with entrapment during Agrinier et al. (1996). 7‰; (f) ranges of δ 13 C values for marine carbonate, dissolved CO 2 and carbonate in altered basalts (Peng et al., 2020 and references therein); (g) ranges of carbon isotopic fractionations in four different carbon fixation pathways by autotrophic microorganisms (House et al., 2003;Tashiro et al., 2017). Note that enzy matic C fixation via the Calvin cycle is mainly utilized by photoautotrophs and might be lacking in the oceanic crust at hadal zones. ...
... As discussed above, the formation of iddingsite is accompanied by generation and release of H 2 , thereby feeding microorganisms that produce OM. The autotrophic microorganisms using four known carbon fixation pathways, including (1) the 3-hydroxypropionate cycle, (2) the reductive tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, (3) the reductive pentose phosphate cycle (Calvin cycle), and (4) the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway, would yield carbon isotopic fractionations ranging from −15‰ to −8‰, from −22‰ to −9‰, from −35‰ to −10‰, from <−45‰ to −11‰, respectively (Fig. 6e-g;House et al., 2003;Tashiro et al., 2017). Obviously, the δ 13 C TOC values in the SMT basalts are consistent with enzymatic C fixation via the Calvin cycle and the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway. ...
... Specifically, enzymatic C fixation via the Calvin cycle is mainly utilized by photoautotrophs, which is absent in the hadal zone oceanic crust. Therefore, the close association between CM and goethite within iddingsite, together with carbon geochemical data, indicates that the most likely origin of CM in the SMT basalts is H 2 -utilizing microorganisms that can use the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway ( Fig. 6e-g; House et al., 2003;Londry and Des Marais, 2003;Lever et al., 2013;Tashiro et al., 2017). ...
... S4) is consistent with entrapment during Agrinier et al. (1996). 7‰; (f) ranges of δ 13 C values for marine carbonate, dissolved CO 2 and carbonate in altered basalts (Peng et al., 2020 and references therein); (g) ranges of carbon isotopic fractionations in four different carbon fixation pathways by autotrophic microorganisms (House et al., 2003;Tashiro et al., 2017). Note that enzy matic C fixation via the Calvin cycle is mainly utilized by photoautotrophs and might be lacking in the oceanic crust at hadal zones. ...
... As discussed above, the formation of iddingsite is accompanied by generation and release of H 2 , thereby feeding microorganisms that produce OM. The autotrophic microorganisms using four known carbon fixation pathways, including (1) the 3-hydroxypropionate cycle, (2) the reductive tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, (3) the reductive pentose phosphate cycle (Calvin cycle), and (4) the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway, would yield carbon isotopic fractionations ranging from −15‰ to −8‰, from −22‰ to −9‰, from −35‰ to −10‰, from <−45‰ to −11‰, respectively (Fig. 6e-g;House et al., 2003;Tashiro et al., 2017). Obviously, the δ 13 C TOC values in the SMT basalts are consistent with enzymatic C fixation via the Calvin cycle and the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway. ...
... Specifically, enzymatic C fixation via the Calvin cycle is mainly utilized by photoautotrophs, which is absent in the hadal zone oceanic crust. Therefore, the close association between CM and goethite within iddingsite, together with carbon geochemical data, indicates that the most likely origin of CM in the SMT basalts is H 2 -utilizing microorganisms that can use the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway ( Fig. 6e-g; House et al., 2003;Londry and Des Marais, 2003;Lever et al., 2013;Tashiro et al., 2017). ...
... Methane isotopes [65] provide the earliest evidence for life on Earth, tracing methanogenesis, hence the acetyl-CoA pathway, hence an ancestral CoFeS (judging by the homology between bacterial and archaeal CoFeS), hence corrins, into rocks 3.8 billion years of age. Isotopically ultralight carbon is also reported in 3.8 Ga sediment carbon [66,67], which suggests the presence of the acetyl-CoA pathway [68] without discriminating an acetogen or methanogen source. Phylogenetic studies implicate acetogens and methanogens as the most ancient lineages among modern bacteria and archaea, respectively [47]. ...
... In addition to physiology [48][49][50][51], isotopes [65][66][67] and phylogeny [47,69,70], metal catalysts provide an independent line of evidence in favour of the antiquity of the acetyl-CoA pathway. Serpentinizing (H 2 -producing) hydrothermal systems synthesize formate [73], an intermediate of the acetyl-CoA pathway [60], and methane, the end product of methanogenesis, from abiotic reactions of H 2 and CO 2 [74]. ...
... Third, acetogens and methanogens themselves, which depend upon CoFeS and the acetyl-CoA pathway for growth [48,49,78], are extremely O 2sensitive and use the anaerobic corrin synthesis pathway. Because physiology [46], phylogeny [47,69,70], and carbon isotopes [65,66,68] point to acetogens and methanogens as the most ancient bacterial and archaeal lineages, respectively, and because both require cobamide [7,8], the corresponding genes of anaerobic corrin biosynthesis were extracted from the genome of the model acetogen Moorella thermoacetica [94] and from the genome of the methanogen Methanococcus maripaludis [95]. ...
Corrinoids are cobalt‐containing tetrapyrroles. They include adenosylcobalamin (vitamin B12) and cobamides that function as cofactors and coenzymes for methyl transfer, radical‐dependent and redox reactions. Though cobamides are the most complex cofactors in nature, they are essential in the acetyl‐CoA pathway, thought to be the most ancient CO2‐fixation pathway, where they perform a pterin‐to‐cobalt‐to‐nickel methyl transfer reaction catalyzed by the corrinoid iron–sulphur protein (CoFeS). CoFeS occurs in H2‐dependent archaeal methanogens, the oldest microbial lineage by measure of physiology and carbon isotope data, dating corrinoids to ca. 3.5 billion years. However, CoFeS and cobamides are also essential in the acetyl‐CoA pathway of H2‐dependent bacterial acetogens. To determine whether corrin biosynthesis was established before archaea and bacteria diverged, whether the pathways arose independently or whether cobamide biosynthesis was transferred from the archaeal to the bacterial lineage (or vice versa) during evolution, we investigated phylogenies and structural data for 26 enzymes of corrin ring and lower ligand biosynthesis. The data trace cobamide synthesis to the common ancestor of bacteria and archaea, placing it in the last universal common ancestor of all lifeforms (LUCA), while pterin‐dependent methyl synthesis pathways likely arose independently post‐LUCA in the lineages leading to bacteria and archaea. Enzymes of corrin biosynthesis were recruited from preexisting ancient pathways. Evolutionary forerunners of CoFeS function were likely Fe‐, Ni‐ and Co‐containing solid‐state surfaces, which, in the laboratory, catalyze the reactions of the acetyl‐CoA pathway from CO2 to pyruvate under serpentinizing hydrothermal conditions. The data suggest that enzymatic corrin biosynthesis replaced insoluble solid‐state catalysts that tethered primordial CO2 assimilation to the Earth's crust, suggesting a role for corrin synthesis in the origin of free‐living cells.
... Nevertheless, the crucial question to be addressed for our discussion remains: when was life transferred to water? In this sense we estimate that such transfer could have occurred sometime between 4400 Ma and near the end of "late heavy bombardment", though not later than at the appearance of the aqueous cell life 3950 Ma (Tashiro et al., 2017). Stanley Miller and Harold Urey, in their famous experiments designed to produce life, exposed a mixture of gases and elements to a continuous electrical spark simulating lightning and produced a wide range of various organic chemicals (Miller, 1998). ...
Explaining the emergence of life is perhaps the central and most challenging question in modern science. We are proposing a new hypothesis concerning the origins of life. The new hypothesis is based on the assumption that during the emergence of life, evolution had to first involve autocatalytic systems which only subsequently acquired the capacity of genetic heredity. Additionally, the key abiotic and early biotic molecules required in the formation of early life, like cofactors, coenzymes, nucleic bases, prosthetic groups, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some pigments, etc. are poorly soluble in aqueous media. To avoid the latter concentration problem, the new hypothesis assumes that life could have emerged in the nonpolar environments or low water systems, or at the interphase of the nonpolar and polar water phase, from where it was subsequently transferred to the aqueous environment. To support our hypothesis, we assume that hydrocarbons and oil on the Earth have abiotic origins.
... There is ongoing debate in the academic community on the birth of living organisms on Earth. The oldest record of organic matter with a carbon isotope composition consistent with life processes has been reported in 4.1 Ga zircons [23,24], 3.95-Ga metamorphic rocks from Canada [23,25], and the 3.8-3.7 Ga Akilia belt and Isua belt [23,[26][27][28][29] in Greenland. Schoph has described the age of the fossiliferous Apex chert as about 3.47 Ga, found in Western Australia [30]. ...
The universe began 13.8 billion years ago, and Earth was born 4.6 billion years ago. Early traces of life were found as soon as 4.1 billion years ago; then, ~200,000 years ago, the human being was born. The evolution of life on earth was to become individual rather than cellular life. The birth of mitochondria made this possible to be the individual life. Since then, individuals have had a limited time of life. It was 1.4 billion years ago that a bacterial cell began living inside an archaeal host cell, a form of endosymbiosis that is the development of eukaryotic cells, which contain a nucleus and other membrane-bound compartments. The bacterium started to provide its host cell with additional energy, and the interaction eventually resulted in a eukaryotic cell, with both archaeal (the host cell) and bacterial (mitochondrial) origins still having genomes. The cells survived high concentrations of oxygen producing more energy inside the cell. Further, the roles of mitochondria in human being’s life and aging will be discussed.
... S4) is consistent with entrapment during Agrinier et al. (1996). 7‰; (f) ranges of δ 13 C values for marine carbonate, dissolved CO 2 and carbonate in altered basalts (Peng et al., 2020 and references therein); (g) ranges of carbon isotopic fractionations in four different carbon fixation pathways by autotrophic microorganisms (House et al., 2003;Tashiro et al., 2017). Note that enzy matic C fixation via the Calvin cycle is mainly utilized by photoautotrophs and might be lacking in the oceanic crust at hadal zones. ...
... As discussed above, the formation of iddingsite is accompanied by generation and release of H 2 , thereby feeding microorganisms that produce OM. The autotrophic microorganisms using four known carbon fixation pathways, including (1) the 3-hydroxypropionate cycle, (2) the reductive tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, (3) the reductive pentose phosphate cycle (Calvin cycle), and (4) the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway, would yield carbon isotopic fractionations ranging from −15‰ to −8‰, from −22‰ to −9‰, from −35‰ to −10‰, from <−45‰ to −11‰, respectively (Fig. 6e-g;House et al., 2003;Tashiro et al., 2017). Obviously, the δ 13 C TOC values in the SMT basalts are consistent with enzymatic C fixation via the Calvin cycle and the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway. ...
... Specifically, enzymatic C fixation via the Calvin cycle is mainly utilized by photoautotrophs, which is absent in the hadal zone oceanic crust. Therefore, the close association between CM and goethite within iddingsite, together with carbon geochemical data, indicates that the most likely origin of CM in the SMT basalts is H 2 -utilizing microorganisms that can use the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway ( Fig. 6e-g; House et al., 2003;Londry and Des Marais, 2003;Lever et al., 2013;Tashiro et al., 2017). ...
Iddingsitization is an aqueous alteration that is known to take place in meteorites and continental basalts providing a potential habitat for microbial life. However, little is known about the exact mode by which this reaction occurs in the hadal seafloor and its implication for the deep subsurface biosphere. A comprehensive investigation of hadal basalts from the southern Mariana Trench (SMT) conducted with microscopic examinations shows that iddingsite occurs as augite‐ hosted veins, rims, and mineral grains formed completely in place of augite within the SMT basalts. Carbon geochemistry indicates that organic matter with homogenous δ ¹³ C values between ‐27.8‰ and ‐27.2‰ might be biogenically accumulated in the SMT basalts. Furthermore, the close spatial relationships between carbonaceous matter (CM) and goethite in iddingsite point to microbial attachment to iddingsite minerals. Thus, iddingsitization might have fueled H2‐ utilizing microorganisms inhabiting the hadal oceanic crust, thereby leading to the formation of CM, as implied by oxygen isotopic compositions revealing low alteration temperatures (32‐83°C) favorable for microbial growth. In all, microbial biosignatures associated with iddingsite in the SMT basalts are highlighted, and these results could pave the way for deciphering the deep subsurface biosphere at hadal zones.
... In fact, in the Archean and early Proterozoic, there was already life, represented by a massive number of unicellular organisms, due to the fall off, which could form layers of organic matter at the bottom of reservoirs. The authors of [51] indicate the presence of signs of life 3.95 Ga years ago. In the sedimentary process, mineral matter was added to organic matter in variable amounts. ...
Carbonado is a specific variety of diamonds, typical representatives of which are distributed in the diamond placers of Central Africa, Brazil, and Venezuela. Carbonado consists of the microcrystalline aggregates of diamonds, with inclusions of mineral matter. These aggregates appear as fragments that are rounded to varying degrees. Carbonado has been known for a long time, but its primary sources have not been found and its genesis remains unclear. We have substantiated the hypothesis that the most probable precursor of carbonado is shungite. Shungite is a specific form of non-crystalline, non-graphitic, fullerene-like carbon. Shungite rocks, currently known in Karelia (Russia), are natural microdispersed composite materials containing shungite—carbonaceous matter and mineral components of different compositions. The content of carbonaceous matter in shungite rocks is from less than 10% to 98%. The carbon isotopic composition of shungite is light ẟ13C from −25‰ to −40‰. The age of shungite rock is more than 2 billion years old, but earlier shungite was probably much more widespread. Known shungite rocks are more than 2 billion years old, but earlier shungite was probably much more widespread. Shungite rocks could recrystallize into diamond rock upon subduction to high pressure and temperature. The diamond rocks could then be exhumed to the Earth’s surface, where they could undergo disruption and reworking with formation of those very fragments that are known as “carbonado”.
... One point worth noting is the fact that some carbon isotope signals are still preserved in these high-grade metamorphic rocks. Similar examples to those reported in our study include organic-rich metamorphic rocks found in the Archean Saglek Block, Labrador 55 . Although the origin of these rocks remains controversial 56 , they do contain possible evidence of early life. ...
Our study helps to unravel the complexity of the Lomagundi–Jatuli event, the largest and longest positive carbon isotope excursion ever recorded on the Earth’s surface, by providing a unique view of Paleoproterozoic graphitic rocks from the Borborema province of Northeastern Brazil. Through detailed mineralogical, textural, chemical and isotopic analyses, we bring a new perspective that provide support to elevated primary productivity and large-scale organic carbon burial during the Lomagundi–Jatuli event. Graphite crystals with distinctive textural features occur in association with silicate and oxidised manganese ores, manganese quartzites, garnetites, and gneisses. The graphites were crystallised at temperatures up to 634 °C, consistent with amphibolite facies metamorphism, according to Raman thermometry. An average total carbon content of 2.1 wt%, with δ¹³C values ranging from − 15.0 to − 21.5‰, is indicated by whole-rock geochemistry and carbon isotopic composition, respectively. Based on these results, our study proposes that these graphitic rocks may represent remnants of organic matter, possibly derived from bacterial biomass associated with manganese-rich sediments, preserved under reducing environmental conditions in a redox-stratified marine setting. Biological mediation on the origin of silicates is suggested by the close relationship between reduced manganese silicates and graphite. These constraints indicate that Paleoproterozoic graphite-rich rocks represent an important but overlooked reservoir of organic carbon that was partially degassed during the metamorphism of organic-rich sequences. Overall, this research provides new insights for the enigmatic emergence of the Lomagundi–Jatuli event, highlighting the intricate interplay among organic carbon, manganese-rich rocks and Earth's evolutionary processes during this period.
... Such light isotope signatures (δ 13 C) in the range of -40‰ to -80‰ are generally interpreted to indicate the presence of methanogens (archaea) (Arndt and Nisbet, 2012), but acetogens (bacteria) have a similarly light isotopic signature (Blaser et al., 2013). Ultralight isotopes indicate the presence of the acetyl-CoA pathway of CO 2 fixation in primordial bacteria and archaea (Tashiro et al., 2017), in line with its exergonic nature (Berg, 2011), ancient physiology (Rühlemann et al., 1985;Fuchs, 2011), abundance of metal cofactors (Martin and Russell, 2003;Ragsdale, 2006) and carbon-metal bonds (Martin, 2020), its dual role as a pathway of carbon and energy metabolism in acetogens and methanogens (Martin and Russell, 2007) and in line with metabolic and phylogenetic reconstructions of LUCA (Weiss et al., 2016). ...
