New chlorophyll fossils from moroccan oil shales. Porphyrins derived from chlorophyll C3 or a related pigment?

Verne-Mismer, J.; Ocampo, R.; Callot, H. J.; Albrecht, Pierre

doi:10.1016/s0040-4039(00)88872-3

Cited by 22 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…General evidence for photosynthetic activity in the Taoudeni Basin is provided by C 30 to C 32 DPEP (2), which may originate from Chl a, b, and c, and BChl a, b, and d (39). More specifically, 7-nor DPEP (2d) may originate from Chl b and Chl c 3 (40,41), and 17-nor DPEP (2f) from Chl c (42). Chl b is an accessory pigment in higher plants, green algae, and cyanobacteria (43), although it can also be chemically generated by alteration of Chl a (44), while Chl c is found in chromophyte algae and cyanobacteria (45).…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

1.1-billion-year-old porphyrins establish a marine ecosystem dominated by bacterial primary producers

Gueneli

McKenna

Ohkouchi

et al. 2018

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The average cell size of marine phytoplankton is critical for the flow of energy and nutrients from the base of the food web to higher trophic levels. Thus, the evolutionary succession of primary producers through Earth's history is important for our understanding of the radiation of modern protists ∼800 million years ago and the emergence of eumetazoan animals ∼200 million years later. Currently, it is difficult to establish connections between primary production and the proliferation of large and complex organisms because the mid-Proterozoic (∼1,800-800 million years ago) rock record is nearly devoid of recognizable phytoplankton fossils. We report the discovery of intact porphyrins, the molecular fossils of chlorophylls, from 1,100-million-year-old marine black shales of the Taoudeni Basin (Mauritania), 600 million years older than previous findings. The porphyrin nitrogen isotopes (δN = 5.6-10.2‰) are heavier than in younger sedimentary sequences, and the isotopic offset between sedimentary bulk nitrogen and porphyrins (ε = -5.1 to -0.5‰) points to cyanobacteria as dominant primary producers. Based on fossil carotenoids, anoxygenic green (Chlorobiacea) and purple sulfur bacteria (Chromatiaceae) also contributed to photosynthate. The low ε values, in combination with a lack of diagnostic eukaryotic steranes in the time interval of 1,600-1,000 million years ago, demonstrate that algae played an insignificant role in mid-Proterozoic oceans. The paucity of algae and the small cell size of bacterial phytoplankton may have curtailed the flow of energy to higher trophic levels, potentially contributing to a diminished evolutionary pace toward complex eukaryotic ecosystems and large and active organisms.

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Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

1.1-billion-year-old porphyrins establish a marine ecosystem dominated by bacterial primary producers

Gueneli

McKenna

Ohkouchi

et al. 2018

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…While iron, copper, and zinc-porphyrins are also occasionally recovered from petroleum e.g., ref. 37 , 38 , these complexes are significantly less stable 34 , potentially explaining the low abundance of these metals in the ICIs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Intracellular bound chlorophyll residues identify 1 Gyr-old fossils as eukaryotic algae

et al. 2022

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The acquisition of photosynthesis is a fundamental step in the evolution of eukaryotes. However, few phototrophic organisms are unambiguously recognized in the Precambrian record. The in situ detection of metabolic byproducts in individual microfossils is the key for the direct identification of their metabolisms. Here, we report a new integrative methodology using synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence and absorption. We evidence bound nickel-geoporphyrins moieties in low-grade metamorphic rocks, preserved in situ within cells of a ~1 Gyr-old multicellular eukaryote, Arctacellularia tetragonala. We identify these moieties as chlorophyll derivatives, indicating that A. tetragonala was a phototrophic eukaryote, one of the first unambiguous algae. This new approach, applicable to overmature rocks, creates a strong new proxy to understand the evolution of phototrophy and diversification of early ecosystems.

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“…Studies of detailed structural variations of porphyrins as a function of depth41 or of structural correlations between (41) Ocampo, R.; Callot, H. J.; Albrecht, P. Abstracts of Papers, 199th ACS National Meeting, Boston, April [22][23][24][25][26][27]1990; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1990; Abstr. GEOC 074.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25,26 The corresponding DPEP (7nor-DPEP) (28) isolated from Serpiano (marine; Triassic; Switzerland)29 and Oulad Abdoun oil shales may arise both from chlorophyll b, as earlier suggested,29 and from chlorophyll c3. 27 Also starting with a chlorophyll c precursor an independent route can lead to a group of pigments 29-31 modified at C-17, after decarboxylation of the free acrylic chain and cleavage of the resulting vinyl group. Indeed they were isolated from most porphyrin fractions of marine origin: Siberian oil,30 the above Moroccan oil shales,25 Monterey crude oil (Miocene; California),31 etc.…”

Section: Correlationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentary porphyrins: correlations with biological precursors

Callot¹,

Ocampo²,

Albrecht³

1990

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Over the past 6 years several sedimentary porphyrins (petroporphyrins, geoporphyrins) were correlated for the first time with biological precursors specific for classes of organisms (algae, photosynthetic bacteria (Chlorobiaceae)). This article discusses the various examples of correlations and the methods that led to these conclusions (isolation of pure porphyrins, structure determination using spectroscopic techniques, total synthesis, isotope measurements).

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New chlorophyll fossils from moroccan oil shales. Porphyrins derived from chlorophyll C3 or a related pigment?

Cited by 22 publications

References 13 publications

1.1-billion-year-old porphyrins establish a marine ecosystem dominated by bacterial primary producers

1.1-billion-year-old porphyrins establish a marine ecosystem dominated by bacterial primary producers

Intracellular bound chlorophyll residues identify 1 Gyr-old fossils as eukaryotic algae

Sedimentary porphyrins: correlations with biological precursors

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