Modulation of oxygen production in archaean oceans by episodes of fe(ii) toxicity

ABSTRACT Oxygen accumulated in the surface waters of the Earth’s oceans1 and atmosphere2 several hundred million years before the Great Oxidation Event between 2.4 and 2.3 billion years

ago3. Before the Great Oxidation Event, periods of enhanced submarine volcanism associated with mantle plume events4 supplied Fe(II) to sea water. These periods generally coincide with the

disappearance of indicators of the presence of molecular oxygen in Archaean sedimentary records5. The presence of Fe(II) in the water column can lead to oxidative stress in some organisms as

a result of reactions between Fe(II) and oxygen that produce reactive oxygen species6. Here we test the hypothesis that the upwelling of Fe(II)-rich, anoxic water into the photic zone

during the late Archaean subjected oxygenic phototrophic bacteria to Fe(II) toxicity. In laboratory experiments, we found that supplying Fe(II) to the anoxic growth medium housing a common

species of planktonic cyanobacteria decreased both the efficiency of oxygenic photosynthesis and their growth rates. We suggest that this occurs because of increasing intracellular

concentrations of reactive oxygen species. We use geochemical modelling to show that Fe(II) toxicity in conditions found in the late Archaean photic zone could have substantially inhibited

water column oxygen production, thus decreasing fluxes of oxygen to the atmosphere. We therefore propose that the timing of atmospheric oxygenation was controlled by the timing of submarine,

plume-type volcanism, with Fe(II) toxicity as the modulating factor. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

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ARCHEAN MARINE OXYGEN OASIS Article Open access 06 April 2021 MICROBIAL IRON LIMITATION IN THE OCEAN’S TWILIGHT ZONE Article 25 September 2024 INHIBITION OF PHOTOTROPHIC IRON OXIDATION BY

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wheel in a neutral pH groundwater seep. _Frontiers in Microbiology_ 3 (2012). Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported by an NSF IRFP fellowship to E.D.S.

_Synechococcus_ PCC 7002 was a gift from M. Eisenhut. D. Deubel, V. Hof, A. Klotz, E. Koeksoy, M. Maisch, S. Schmidt, C. Vogt and W. Wu assisted with experiments. This project benefited from

helpful discussion with S. Eroglu, K. Forchhammer, S. J. Mojzsis, M. Mühe, M. Obst, A. Picard and B. Voelker. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Geosciences,

University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany Elizabeth D. Swanner, Olaf A. Cirpka, Ronny Schoenberg & Andreas Kappler * Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of

Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada Aleksandra M. Mloszewska & Kurt O. Konhauser Authors * Elizabeth D. Swanner View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar * Aleksandra M. Mloszewska View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Olaf A. Cirpka View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Ronny Schoenberg View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Kurt O. Konhauser View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Andreas Kappler View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS

E.D.S., O.A.C. and A.K. designed the research; E.D.S. performed the research, E.D.S., O.A.C. and A.K. analysed the data; R.S., A.M.M. and K.O.K. helped to develop key themes; E.D.S. wrote

the paper, with major contributions from A.K., A.M.M., R.S. and K.O.K. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Elizabeth D. Swanner. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors

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THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Swanner, E., Mloszewska, A., Cirpka, O. _et al._ Modulation of oxygen production in Archaean oceans by episodes of Fe(II) toxicity. _Nature Geosci_ 8, 126–130

(2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2327 Download citation * Received: 14 August 2014 * Accepted: 24 November 2014 * Published: 05 January 2015 * Issue Date: February 2015 * DOI:

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