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      New insights into the evolutionary history of biological nitrogen fixation

      review-article
      ,
      Frontiers in Microbiology
      Frontiers Media S.A.
      nitrogen fixation, great oxidation event, NIf, methanogens

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          Abstract

          Nitrogenase, which catalyzes the ATP-dependent reduction of dinitrogen (N 2) to ammonia (NH 3), accounts for roughly half of the bioavailable nitrogen supporting extant life. The fundamental requirement for fixed forms of nitrogen for life on Earth, both at present and in the past, has led to broad and significant interest in the origin and evolution of biological N 2 fixation. One key question is whether the limited availability of fixed nitrogen was a factor in life's origin or whether there were ample sources of fixed nitrogen produced by abiotic processes or delivered through the weathering of bolide impact materials to support this early life. If the latter, the key questions become what were the characteristics of the environment that precipitated the evolution of this oxygen sensitive process, when did this occur, and how was its subsequent evolutionary history impacted by the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis and the rise of oxygen in the Earth's biosphere. Since the availability of fixed sources of nitrogen capable of supporting early life is difficult to glean from the geologic record, there are limited means to get direct insights into these questions. Indirect insights, however, can be gained through phylogenetic studies of nitrogenase structural gene products and additional gene products involved in the biosynthesis of the complex metal-containing prosthetic groups associated with this enzyme complex. Insights gained from such studies, as reviewed herein, challenge traditional models for the evolution of biological nitrogen fixation and provide the basis for the development of new conceptual models that explain the stepwise evolution of this highly complex life sustaining process.

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          Most cited references67

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          Evolution of the nitrogen cycle and its influence on the biological sequestration of CO2 in the ocean

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            Nitrogenase gene diversity and microbial community structure: a cross-system comparison.

            Biological nitrogen fixation is an important source of fixed nitrogen for the biosphere. Microorganisms catalyse biological nitrogen fixation with the enzyme nitrogenase, which has been highly conserved through evolution. Cloning and sequencing of one of the nitrogenase structural genes, nifH, has provided a large, rapidly expanding database of sequences from diverse terrestrial and aquatic environments. Comparison of nifH phylogenies to ribosomal RNA phylogenies from cultivated microorganisms shows little conclusive evidence of lateral gene transfer. Sequence diversity far outstrips representation by cultivated representatives. The phylogeny of nitrogenase includes branches that represent phylotypic groupings based on ribosomal RNA phylogeny, but also includes paralogous clades including the alternative, non-molybdenum, non-vanadium containing nitrogenases. Only a few alternative or archaeal nitrogenase sequences have as yet been obtained from the environment. Extensive analysis of the distribution of nifH phylotypes among habitats indicates that there are characteristic patterns of nitrogen fixing microorganisms in termite guts, sediment and soil environments, estuaries and salt marshes, and oligotrophic oceans. The distribution of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, although not entirely dictated by the nitrogen availability in the environment, is non-random and can be predicted on the basis of habitat characteristics. The ability to assay for gene expression and investigate genome arrangements provides the promise of new tools for interrogating natural populations of diazotrophs. The broad analysis of nitrogenase genes provides a basis for developing molecular assays and bioinformatics approaches for the study of nitrogen fixation in the environment.
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              A whiff of oxygen before the great oxidation event?

              High-resolution chemostratigraphy reveals an episode of enrichment of the redox-sensitive transition metals molybdenum and rhenium in the late Archean Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia. Correlations with organic carbon indicate that these metals were derived from contemporaneous seawater. Rhenium/osmium geochronology demonstrates that the enrichment is a primary sedimentary feature dating to 2501 +/- 8 million years ago (Ma). Molybdenum and rhenium were probably supplied to Archean oceans by oxidative weathering of crustal sulfide minerals. These findings point to the presence of small amounts of O2 in the environment more than 50 million years before the start of the Great Oxidation Event.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Front Microbiol
                Front Microbiol
                Front. Microbiol.
                Frontiers in Microbiology
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1664-302X
                06 June 2013
                05 August 2013
                2013
                : 4
                : 201
                Affiliations
                Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Department of Microbiology, Montana State University Bozeman, MT, USA
                Author notes

                Edited by: Stephen W. Ragsdale, University of Michigan, USA

                Reviewed by: Rachel N. Austin, Bates College, USA; Luis M. Rubio, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

                Article
                10.3389/fmicb.2013.00201
                3733012
                23935594
                d9275c71-c6f1-4fb0-aeff-b1dc03c0307e
                Copyright © 2013 Boyd and Peters.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 03 May 2013
                : 26 June 2013
                Page count
                Figures: 4, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 78, Pages: 12, Words: 8691
                Categories
                Microbiology
                Focused Review Article

                Microbiology & Virology
                nitrogen fixation,great oxidation event,nif,methanogens
                Microbiology & Virology
                nitrogen fixation, great oxidation event, nif, methanogens

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