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Lipid biomarkers: molecular tools for illuminating the history of microbial life
Fossilized lipids preserved in sedimentary rocks offer singular insights into the Earth's palaeobiology. These 'biomarkers' encode information pertaining to the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans, transitions in ocean plankton, the greening of continents, mass extinctions and cl...
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| Published in: | Nature reviews. Microbiology 2022-03, Vol.20 (3), p.174-185 |
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| container_title | Nature reviews. Microbiology |
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| creator | Summons, Roger E Welander, Paula V Gold, David A |
| description | Fossilized lipids preserved in sedimentary rocks offer singular insights into the Earth's palaeobiology. These 'biomarkers' encode information pertaining to the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans, transitions in ocean plankton, the greening of continents, mass extinctions and climate change. Historically, biomarker interpretations relied on inventories of lipids present in extant microorganisms and counterparts in natural environments. However, progress has been impeded because only a small fraction of the Earth's microorganisms can be cultured, many environmentally significant microorganisms from the past no longer exist and there are gaping holes in knowledge concerning lipid biosynthesis. The revolution in genomics and bioinformatics has provided new tools to expand our understanding of lipid biomarkers, their biosynthetic pathways and distributions in nature. In this Review, we explore how preserved organic molecules provide a unique perspective on the history of the Earth's microbial life. We discuss how advances in molecular biology have helped elucidate biomarker origins and afforded more robust interpretations of fossil lipids and how the rock record provides vital calibration points for molecular clocks. Such studies are open to further exploitation with the expansion of sequenced microbial genomes in accessible databases. |
| doi_str_mv | 10.1038/s41579-021-00636-2 |
| format | article |
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These 'biomarkers' encode information pertaining to the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans, transitions in ocean plankton, the greening of continents, mass extinctions and climate change. Historically, biomarker interpretations relied on inventories of lipids present in extant microorganisms and counterparts in natural environments. However, progress has been impeded because only a small fraction of the Earth's microorganisms can be cultured, many environmentally significant microorganisms from the past no longer exist and there are gaping holes in knowledge concerning lipid biosynthesis. The revolution in genomics and bioinformatics has provided new tools to expand our understanding of lipid biomarkers, their biosynthetic pathways and distributions in nature. In this Review, we explore how preserved organic molecules provide a unique perspective on the history of the Earth's microbial life. We discuss how advances in molecular biology have helped elucidate biomarker origins and afforded more robust interpretations of fossil lipids and how the rock record provides vital calibration points for molecular clocks. 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Microbiology</title><addtitle>Nat Rev Microbiol</addtitle><description>Fossilized lipids preserved in sedimentary rocks offer singular insights into the Earth's palaeobiology. These 'biomarkers' encode information pertaining to the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans, transitions in ocean plankton, the greening of continents, mass extinctions and climate change. Historically, biomarker interpretations relied on inventories of lipids present in extant microorganisms and counterparts in natural environments. However, progress has been impeded because only a small fraction of the Earth's microorganisms can be cultured, many environmentally significant microorganisms from the past no longer exist and there are gaping holes in knowledge concerning lipid biosynthesis. The revolution in genomics and bioinformatics has provided new tools to expand our understanding of lipid biomarkers, their biosynthetic pathways and distributions in nature. 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Microbiology</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Summons, Roger E</au><au>Welander, Paula V</au><au>Gold, David A</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Lipid biomarkers: molecular tools for illuminating the history of microbial life</atitle><jtitle>Nature reviews. Microbiology</jtitle><addtitle>Nat Rev Microbiol</addtitle><date>2022-03-01</date><risdate>2022</risdate><volume>20</volume><issue>3</issue><spage>174</spage><epage>185</epage><pages>174-185</pages><issn>1740-1526</issn><eissn>1740-1534</eissn><abstract>Fossilized lipids preserved in sedimentary rocks offer singular insights into the Earth's palaeobiology. These 'biomarkers' encode information pertaining to the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans, transitions in ocean plankton, the greening of continents, mass extinctions and climate change. 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| ispartof | Nature reviews. Microbiology, 2022-03, Vol.20 (3), p.174-185 |
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| subjects | Animals Bacteria - metabolism Bioinformatics Biology Biomarkers Biomarkers - metabolism Biosynthesis Calibration Climate change Clocks Earth Earth, Planet Ecosystem Exploitation Fossils Fossils - microbiology Genomes Genomics Information processing Lipid Metabolism - physiology Lipids Lipids - chemistry Mass extinctions Microorganisms Molecular biology Oceans Organic chemistry Origins Oxygenation Paleobiology Plankton Robustness Sedimentary rocks |
| title | Lipid biomarkers: molecular tools for illuminating the history of microbial life |
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