1999/12/07 by E. G. Nisbet, C. M. Fowler · 107 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies #Protist diversity and phylogeny #Microbial mat #Anoxygenic photosynthesis #Archaea #Biology #Cyanobacteria #Anaerobic bacteria #Ecology #Bacteria #Ecological niche #Microbial ecology #Habitat #Paleontology
paper · open access · doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0934
published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 266(1436), 2375-2382 (Royal Society)
openalex publication_date 1999/12/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Microbial mats of coexisting bacteria and archaea date back to the early Archaean: many of the major steps in early evolution probably took place within them. The earliest mats may have formed as biofilms of cooperative chemolithotrophs in hyperthermophile settings, with microbial exploitation of diversifying niches. Anoxygenic photosynthesis using bacteriochlorophyll could have allowed mats, including green gliding bacteria, to colonize anaerobic shallow–water mesothermophile habitats. Exploitation of the Calvin–Benson cycle by purple bacteria allowed diversification of microbial mats, with some organisms in more aerobic habitats, while green sulphur bacteria specialized in anaerobic niches. Cyanobacterial evolution led to more complex mats and plankton, allowing widespread colonization of the globe and the creation of further aerobic habitat. Microbial mat structure may reflect this evolutionary development in broad terms, with anaerobic lower levels occupied by archaeal and bacterial respirers, fermenters and green bacteria, while the higher levels contain aerobic purple bacteria and are dominated by cyanobacteria. A possible origin of eukaryotes is from a fusion of symbiotic partners living across a redox boundary in a mat. The geological record of Archaean mats may be present as isotopic fingerprints: with the presence of cyanobacteria, mats may have had a nearly modern structure as early as 3.5 Ga ago (1 Ga=109 years).