![]() ![]() Dr Cordón-Preciado said: “This involves allowing generations of cyanobacteria to grow and evolve over a long period of time, and tracking genome changes at regular intervals using next-generation genome sequencing techniques.” The experiment focuses on understanding the ‘molecular clock’ of different types of cyanobacteria strategically located in their tree of life. This is the first time a project like this will be done in photosynthetic organisms. coli, over three decades by Professor Richard Lenski and colleagues at Michigan State University. ![]() This is how we gain a more conclusive understanding of the origins of photosynthesis using experimentally validated data.Ī very well-known and similar experiment has been carried out on the human pathogen and model bacterium, E. He added: “This is why our cyanobacteria evolution project is key. Instead, Dr Cardona and research technician Dr Violeta Cordón-Preciado will grow their own cyanobacteria in an effort to determine the speed of their evolution. “We are talking about uncertainty values of up to two billion years, and as technology has advanced, this uncertainty has grown even further as we discover new fossils.” “These are extremely ancient processes,” Dr Cardona said. However, unravelling which type of photosynthesis came first has proven tricky, as it relies on knowing how fast evolution has taken place in these organisms. While anoxygenic photosynthesis is often thought to be the more ancient of the two, recent research has suggested that oxygenic photosynthesis may have arisen in some of the earliest bacterial organisms on the planet, before cyanobacteria. To understand this, researchers must make the distinction between the two types of photosynthesis: oxygenic and anoxygenic, or oxygen-producing and non-oxygen-producing. Photosynthesis is an ancient process, and there have been many efforts made to understand just how and when it evolved. Understanding why things are the way they are is a fundamental aspect of science.” Researchers at Imperial are attempting to use long-term multigenerational cultures of cyanobacteria (formerly known as blue-green algae) to reveal the origins of one of the most fundamental aspects of life on Earth: photosynthesis.ĭr Tanai Cardona, from the Department of Life Sciences and the leader of the Molecular Evolution Lab at Imperial, said: “Why is life the way it is? It is always a relevant question to ask. A landmark study at Imperial College London aims to unravel the mysteries surrounding the ancient origins of photosynthesis. ![]()
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