Aggregation Phenomena in Cyanobacterial Analogues of Ancient Stromatolites

Details Aggregation Phenomena in Cyanobacterial Analogues of Ancient Stromatolites Aggregation Phenomena in Cyanobacterial Analogues of Ancient Stromatolites

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p53d..07b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P53D-07

Biology

0406 Astrobiology And Extraterrestrial Materials, 0448 Geomicrobiology, 0463 Microbe/Mineral Interactions, 5225 Early Environment Of Earth

Scientific paper

If one is to understand and time the evolution of such fundamental processes as photosynthesis, it is imperative to recognize and interpret microbial fossils. This goal is challenging because many of the oldest putative fossils are only identified as biotic by a distinctive morphology. To this end, we examine the forces that shape modern, cone-forming cyanobacterial mats that are thought to grow in a manner similar to ancient structures called conical stromatolites. Here we show that the initial stages in the growth of a mat are shaped primarily by the diffusion of oxygen over macroscopic distances. We observe that cyanobacteria aggregate into 100-200 micrometer diameter clumps when oxygen is present, but these gliding bacteria migrate away from the clumps when oxygen is removed from the system. Not only does oxygen have the ability to induce clumping, but the diffusion of photosynthetically produced oxygen also determines the 200 micrometer - 1 mm spacing among the clumps arranged in a cm-scale lattice. Although many current models of stromatolite morphogenesis rely exclusively on bacterium-scale processes, our observations show that macroscale interactions control the early stages in the growth of modern cone- forming biofilms. Intriguingly, similarly sized and spaced clumps initiated the growth of conical stromatolite classified as Thyssagetes odontophyes, providing evidence that a metabolic waste product shaped some microbial mats in Early Mesoproterozoic.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Aggregation Phenomena in Cyanobacterial Analogues of Ancient Stromatolites does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Aggregation Phenomena in Cyanobacterial Analogues of Ancient Stromatolites, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Aggregation Phenomena in Cyanobacterial Analogues of Ancient Stromatolites will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1239488