Ancient Cyanobacterium Reveals Clues to the Origins of Photosynthesis

[stevegamer]

An international team of scientists has revealed a vital chapter in Earth’s evolutionary history by decoding the structure of a light-harvesting nanodevice in one of the most ancient known cyanobacterial lineages.


Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study offers a rare view into how primitive life forms began using sunlight to generate oxygen—an innovation that ultimately transformed the planet’s atmosphere and enabled the evolution of complex life.


The research focused on Photosystem I (PSI), a molecular complex that captures light and converts it into electrical energy. Scientists purified PSI from Anthocerotibacter panamensis, a recently discovered cyanobacterial species whose lineage diverged from all other known cyanobacteria about 3 billion years ago. This species is so evolutionarily isolated that its closest known relatives split off approximately 1.4 billion years ago.

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“We can’t travel back 3 billion years to see ancient cyanobacteria in action,” said Dr. Ming-Yang Ho of National Taiwan University, lead author of the study. “That’s why studying A. panamensis is so valuable—it allows us to peer into the distant biological past.”


Unlike most modern cyanobacteria, algae, and plants—which organize their photosynthetic machinery within stacked membrane structures called thylakoids—A. panamensis lacks thylakoids entirely. Instead, it conducts photosynthesis using just a single membrane layer. This simpler configuration limits its ability to harvest light, causing it to grow slowly and survive only in low-light conditions in the lab.


According to Dr. Christopher Gisriel of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, “Now that we have this PSI structure, we can compare it to others and determine which features date back billions of years and which arose more recently.”


The team discovered that while the protein sequences have changed over time—as they do in any organism—the basic architecture of PSI has remained remarkably conserved. The complex still forms a triad, with three identical units arranged like a three-leaf clover, together holding more than 300 light-absorbing pigments including chlorophylls and carotenoids.


“Even 3 billion years ago, photosynthesis had already evolved into an incredibly refined process,” noted Dr. Tanai Cardona of Queen Mary University of London. “To truly uncover the origins of oxygenic photosynthesis, we’ll have to look even deeper into evolutionary history—before the appearance of cyanobacteria themselves.”