Version 1
: Received: 1 February 2022 / Approved: 2 February 2022 / Online: 2 February 2022 (12:17:37 CET)
How to cite:
Cardona, T. Origin and Early Evolution of Photosynthesis: A Brief Historical Account. Preprints2022, 2022020031. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0031.v1
Cardona, T. Origin and Early Evolution of Photosynthesis: A Brief Historical Account. Preprints 2022, 2022020031. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0031.v1
Cardona, T. Origin and Early Evolution of Photosynthesis: A Brief Historical Account. Preprints2022, 2022020031. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0031.v1
APA Style
Cardona, T. (2022). Origin and Early Evolution of Photosynthesis: A Brief Historical Account. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0031.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Cardona, T. 2022 "Origin and Early Evolution of Photosynthesis: A Brief Historical Account" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0031.v1
Abstract
What if oxygenic photosynthesis is a primordial process with roots at the origin of life? What would the impact of this change in perspective be on our understanding of the early Earth and of the emergence and diversification of life? In here, I will examine some of the historical context of the study of the evolution of photosynthesis, which led to the consolidation of the current notion that the origin of anoxygenic photosynthesis occurred before the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis. I will show with a few examples how the mainstream view on the evolution of photosynthesis traces back to Oparin’s ‘primordial soup’ scenario for the origin of life, fuelled by the century-old perception that oxygenic photosynthesis is a plant rather than a bacterial trait. However, it has become more evident than ever before that the mainstream view is not supported by the evolution of the photosystems. In other words, the origin of biological water oxidation appears to be the seed from where photosynthesis sprout. Somewhat troubling and contrary to all predictions that derive from the mainstream view, photosystem II—the water-splitting and oxygen-evolving enzyme—shows features that are better explained if photochemical reaction centres originated during the establishment of oxygenic photosynthesis. An urgent revision of the evolution of photosynthesis procured to be free from biases of interpretations and presuppositions is strongly encouraged from all angles of the Life and Earth Sciences.
Keywords
photosynthesis; photosystem; water oxidation; oxygenic; evolution; origin of life
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Life Sciences
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
