Study traces evolution of phosphorus-recycling enzymes across billions of years of Earth history
Researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of alkaline phosphatase enzymes that recycle phosphorus in seawater, finding they emerged in the Archaean and expanded dramatically during the Neoproterozoic. These enzymes are critical for maintaining nutrient availability and marine primary productivity by breaking down organic phosphorus compounds. The findings suggest that the efficiency of marine phosphorus recycling has been shaped by microbial metabolic strategies and environmental conditions throughout Earth's history.
A phylogenetic study published on bioRxiv examined three major families of alkaline phosphatase enzymes across the tree of life to understand how marine phosphorus recycling capacity has evolved. The researchers used genomic data from extant organisms and phylogenetic reconciliation methods to trace these enzymes back through deep time, finding that alkaline phosphatases first emerged during the Archaean eon. A major expansion and diversification of these enzymes occurred during the Neoproterozoic, coinciding with the rise of algae and increased biological complexity. The distribution of these enzymes across different microbial metabolic groups—particularly concentrated in iron reducers, fermenters, and aerobic heterotrophs—suggests that prevailing metabolic strategies and redox conditions have strongly influenced the efficiency of phosphorus recycling in marine ecosystems. This work provides mechanistic insights into how microbial enzymes maintained ocean productivity as Earth's surface became progressively oxygenated.
What's missing
The study's limitations regarding phylogenetic reconstruction uncertainty, potential biases in genomic sampling across different microbial groups, and the challenges of inferring ancestral enzyme localization from modern genomes are not discussed in the abstract provided.
What different sources said
- bioRxivCenter
Tracing the evolution of microbial alkaline phosphatases and their role in phosphorus recycling through time
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