Osmotrophic Biofilms: From Modern to Ancient

Brasier, Martin D.; Callow, Richard H. T.; Menon, Latha R.; Liu, Alexander

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3799-2_7

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The ubiquitous presence of microbialites (Facies F1) suggests that tidal flats were colonized by cyanobacterial mats (Decho, ; Lenton et al ., ), similar to those characterizing modern arid intertidal environments (Walker, ; Hasegawa et al ., ). The ability of these mats and associated infaunal heterotrophic bacteria to fix P prevented the escape of

{PO}_{4}^{3 -}

from the sediment and further stabilized the zone of phosphogenesis (Brasier & Callow, ; Callow & Brasier, ; Brasier et al ., ).…”

Section: Depositional Modelmentioning

confidence: 97%

Neoproterozoic peritidal phosphorite from the Sete Lagoas Formation (Brazil) and the Precambrian phosphorus cycle

et al. 2015

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The Neoproterozoic Sete Lagoas Formation (ca 610 Ma) of the São Francisco Basin, Brazil, is a succession of siltstone, limestone and phosphorite. Phosphorite forms part of a previously unrecognized 150 to 200 m thick, unconformity bounded depositional sequence. Lithofacies stacking patterns indicate that deposition was punctuated by higher order fluctuations in base level that produced aggradational parasequences. These shallowing-upward cycles record the progradation of phosphate-rich intertidal flats over shallow subtidal deposits as accommodation filled. The presence of mudcracks, authigenic chert nodules, lack of coarse terrigenous clastics and the abundance of silt with fine, abraded quartz grains suggests accumulation along an arid coastline with significant aeolian input. Delivery of phosphorus adsorbed on aeolian Fe-(oxyhydr)oxide and clay is interpreted as having stimulated phosphogenesis in peritidal environments. Lithofacies associations indicate that windblown phosphorus promoted the establishment of cyanobacterial communities along the coast, which produced photosynthetic oxygen and the suboxic conditions necessary for the precipitation of authigenic carbonate fluorapatite. As in other Precambrian phosphatic systems, nearshore oxygen oases were a prerequisite for phosphorite accumulation because redox sensitive phosphogenic processes were pushed into the sediment to concentrate phosphorus. In more distal, anoxic environments phosphorite could not form because these biotic and abiotic processes were suspended in the water column, which cycled phosphorus in sea water rather than at the sediment-water interface. Such shallow-water phosphorite is unlike larger, younger Neoproterozoic-Phanerozoic phosphatic deposits inferred to have formed in deeper-upwelling related environments. The increasing size of phosphatic deposits through the latest Precambrian is interpreted as reflecting the progressive ventilation of the oceans during the Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event, and resultant expansion of phosphogenic environments into distal settings. The widespread cycling of bioavailable phosphorus at the sea floor not only produced the first true phosphorite giants, but may have also been an important precondition for the evolution of multicellular animals.

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{PO}_{4}^{3 -}

from the sediment and further stabilized the zone of phosphogenesis (Brasier & Callow, ; Callow & Brasier, ; Brasier et al ., ).…”

Section: Depositional Modelmentioning

confidence: 97%

Neoproterozoic peritidal phosphorite from the Sete Lagoas Formation (Brazil) and the Precambrian phosphorus cycle

et al. 2015

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“…These MISS provide a promising avenue for future research. However, there is a pressing need for future work to focus less upon cyanobacterial tidal mats and uniformitarian process, and more upon other kinds and other process, such as those of anoxygenic phototrophs, iron bacteria, sulphur bacteria, osmotrophic and aphotic mats in both modern and ancient settings (e.g., Brasier et al 2010).…”

Section: Criterion Iii-a)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fossils and astrobiology: new protocols for cell evolution in deep time

Brasier

Wacey

2012

International Journal of Astrobiology

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The study of life remote in space has strong parallels with the study of life remote in time. Both are dependent on decoding those historic phenomena called 'fossils', here taken to include biogenic traces of activity and waste products. There is the shared problem of data restoration from incomplete data sets; the importance of contextual analysis of potentially viable habitats; the centrality of cell theory; the need to reject the null hypothesis of an abiogenic origin for candidate cells via morphospace analysis; the need to demonstrate biology-like behaviour (e.g., association with biofilm-like structures; tendency to form clusters and 'mats'; and a preference for certain substrates), and of metabolism-like behaviour (e.g., within the candidate cell wall; within surrounding 'waste products'; evidence for syntrophy and metabolic cycles; and evidence for metabolic tiers). We combine these ideas into a robust protocol for demonstrating ancient or extra-terrestrial life, drawing examples from Earth's early geological record, in particular from the earliest known freshwater communities of the 1.0 Ga Torridonian of Scotland, from the 1.9 Ga Gunflint Chert of Canada, from the 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool sandstone of Australia, and from the 3.46 Ga Apex Chert also of Australia.

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“…There is the possibility of a major role for osmotrophic organisms in the Ediacaran oceans (e.g. Brasier et al . 2010).…”

Section: What Was Palaeopascichnus? the Comparative Development Of Pomentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the protozoan hypothesis for Ediacaran fossils: a developmental analysis ofPalaeopascichnus

Antcliffe¹,

Gooday²,

Brasier³

2011

Palaeontology

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The hypothesis that the Ediacara biota were giant protozoans is tested by considering the external morphology, internal organization, suggested fossil representatives and molecular phylogeny of the xenophyophores. From this analysis, we find no case to support a direct relationship. Rather, the xenophyophores are here regarded as a group of recently evolved Foraminifera and are hence unlikely to have a record from the Ediacaran Period. Further from the growth dynamics of Foraminifera, they are also unlikely to be related to the Palaeopascichnus organism. We also find significant distinctions in the growth dynamics of Palaeopascichnus and organisms usually referred to the Ediacara biota, such as Charnia and Dickinsonia. Developmental analysis of the Palaeopascichnus -central to the xenophyophore hypothesis -reveals unusual, protozoan features, including evidence for chaotic repair structures, for mergence of coeval forms, as well as complex bifurcations. These observations suggest that Palaeopascichnus is a body fossil of an unidentified protozoan but is unrepresentative of Ediacaran body construction, in general.Key words: Palaeopascichnus, Ediacara biota, Protozoa, xenophyophores, development, evolution.The fossil record contains a great conundrum; the modern animal phyla appear already distinguished as fossils within the Cambrian System (Brasier 1979). This system lies immediately above the recently named Ediacaran System (Knoll et al. 2004). From the time of Darwin to the discovery of the global Ediacara biota (Gürich 1933; Sprigg 1947; Ford 1958), the ancestry of animals has remained one of the most exciting mysteries in science. Indeed, Darwin (1859) stated that one of the greatest flaws in his hypothesis was the lack of demonstrable ancestry to the recognized phyla that appear distinct at the base of the known fossil record (then 'Silurian', now the base of the Cambrian). After the great antiquity of the Ediacara biota had been realized (Ford 1958), then the Ediacara biota was interpreted as primitive metazoans (Glaessner 1966(Glaessner , 1984 Glaessner and Daily 1959; Glaessner and Wade 1966; Wade 1972; Jenkins 1984 Jenkins , 1985 Jenkins , 1992 Jenkins , 1995 Jenkins and Gehling 1978; McMenamin 1986 McMenamin , 1998 Bengtson 2003), thereby providing putative solutions to the long posed problem regarding animal ancestry.This view of Ediacaran palaeobiology was refocused by Seilacher , 1985, 1989, 1992 also Buss and Seilacher 1994), who questioned the evidence for continuity between the Ediacara biota and succeeding Cambrian metazoans. Seilacher (1989) also challenged the taxonomy by stating that many Ediacaran organisms share a common construction. This was taken to imply that they are, for the most part, a single clade unrelated to modern groups. A profusion of taxonomic affinities has followed (e.g. Dzik 2003; Gehling 1991; Jenkins 1992; Valentine 1992; Seilacher 2003; Seilacher et al. 2003; Peterson et al. 2003; Narbonne 2005). These taxonomies were based upon simple morphologic...

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Osmotrophic Biofilms: From Modern to Ancient

Cited by 13 publications

References 52 publications

Neoproterozoic peritidal phosphorite from the Sete Lagoas Formation (Brazil) and the Precambrian phosphorus cycle

Neoproterozoic peritidal phosphorite from the Sete Lagoas Formation (Brazil) and the Precambrian phosphorus cycle

Fossils and astrobiology: new protocols for cell evolution in deep time

Testing the protozoan hypothesis for Ediacaran fossils: a developmental analysis ofPalaeopascichnus

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