Geoscientists Unearth New Insights Into Life’s Evolution 800 Million Years Ago

Carbonate Rock Samples Collected From the North China Craton

Carbonate rock samples collected from the North China Craton. Credit: Christina Franusich for Virginia Tech.

Although the oceans from ancient times have disappeared, the events that occurred in them have been recorded in rocks. By examining these rocks, we can connect Earth’s past to its present and future, gaining a deeper understanding of our planet’s history.

Could nitrate be responsible for algae, flowers, and even your neighbors? A group of geoscientists from Virginia Tech has uncovered evidence that suggests the answer may be yes.

Recently published in Science Advances, the team’s research findings show a rise in biologically accessible nitrogen during the period when marine eukaryotes – organisms with a defined nucleus – gained dominance. The evolution of complex eukaryotic cells into multicellular beings marked a significant turning point in the history of life on Earth, leading to the emergence of animals, plants, and fungi.

“Where we sit today, with life as it is on the planet, is the sum total of all the events that happened in the past,” said Ben Gill, an associate professor of sedimentary geochemistry and co-author on the paper. “And this is a key event where we shift from dominantly prokaryotic ecosystems — cells that are much simpler than the ones in our bodies — to eukaryotes. If that did not happen, we would not be here today.”

Previous research focused on phosphorus’ role in the rise of eukaryotes, but Junyao Kang, a doctoral student in the Department of Geosciences and lead author of the paper, was curious about the part nitrogen played in this event.

“This data is unique because nitrogen isotope data are virtually nonexistent from the early Neoproterozoic time period, or between a billion and 800 million years ago,” said Kang.

Collaborating with the Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, Kang has spent two years working to understand what drove the rise of eukaryotes through nitrogen isotope analysis of rock samples from the North China Craton. Home to rocks dating back 3.8 billion years ago, the region was once covered by an ocean.

“We had some rough ideas of when eukaryotes became ecologically successful,” said Shuhai Xiao, professor of geobiology and a paper co-author. “They had been there for a long time in a low-key status until about 820 million years ago, when they became abundant.”

Kang decided he wanted to learn why. He took the data from the rock samples, entered it into a larger database, and analyzed it across a longer time scale that spanned different geographic locations.

“Once we did this kind of integration and put it into a big picture, we saw the rise of nitrates through time, which happened around 800 million years ago,” said Kang.

Solid collaboration

A collaborative, international approach was key to connecting this new data with biological events, most notably, the rise of eukaryotes.

Gill and Rachel Reid, also a College of Science geochemist and co-author of the paper, provided critical analyses through resources, including the mass spectrometer in the Geoscience Stable Isotope Lab at Virginia Tech. An elemental analyzer coupled to the mass spectrometer allowed the researchers to extract pure nitrogen gas from the samples for analysis.

Gill specializes in reconstructing present and past chemical cycles on our planet. He collaborates with paleontologists to study the record of life preserved in the geological record and examines what potential environmental drivers might have enabled changes in life throughout history.

Reid, who generally focuses her research on Earth’s more recent events, had a special opportunity to offer her nitrogen isotope expertise to these ancient fossils.

Feifei Zhang, a geochemist at Nanjing University, was the paper’s fourth co-author. Zhang provided insights into how much oxygen would have been available in the oceans during the time when nitrate increased in abundance.

All of the Virginia Tech authors are affiliated members of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute’s Global Change Center, with Kang serving as a Ph.D. fellow in the Interfaces of Global Change graduate program. The center brings together experts from diverse disciplines to solve these complex global challenges and train the next generation of leaders.

Past, present, and future

Xiao, who has helped excavate and study some of the most ancient fossils from around the world, said this type of study gives him hope for future discoveries. The team members look forward to collaborating with NASA on future grants, such as the exobiology program supporting their current research.

He also credits University Libraries at Virginia Tech for its support of open-access publications, such as Science Advances, to provide a vetted selection of research, freely available to readers.

“We can link the dots from the nitrogen isotopic compositions in the ancient past and then go to the next step and infer how much nitrate was available for organisms,” said Xiao. “And then we tie that with the fossil data to show that there’s a relationship.”

While ancient oceans are long gone, what happened in ancient oceans is recorded in rocks, and studying these rocks provides a link from our Earth’s history to the present and to the future.

“Geologists look at rocks for the same reason that stock traders look at the Dow Jones curve when they make decisions to sell or buy stocks. The geological history written in rocks gives us important context about global changes in the future,” said Xiao.

Reference: “Nitrate limitation in early Neoproterozoic oceans delayed the ecological rise of eukaryotes” by Junyao Kang, Benjamin Gill, Rachel Reid, Feifei Zhang and Shuhai Xiao, 22 March 2023, Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade9647

4 Comments on "Geoscientists Unearth New Insights Into Life’s Evolution 800 Million Years Ago"

  1. Nitrogenase enzymes evolved very early once ammonia was no longer available. Nitrates have been available long before 800 Myr-ago. The key to higher animals… multicellular life was the evolution of connective tissue collagens that required the evolution of two amino acids not in the 20 of the genetic code. New insights are interesting but not needed.

  2. Can I Divorce my wife for not sleeping with me | May 12, 2023 at 6:18 am | Reply

    thanks for beautiful content. i got informative blog. keep sharing.

  3. lawyer for tax fraud | July 24, 2023 at 4:36 am | Reply

    Thanks for providing these site list. I appreciate your work for creating this blog and I hope these site help for me

  4. virginia prenuptial lawyer | July 25, 2023 at 4:11 am | Reply

    thanks for awesome content. keep sharing.

Leave a Reply to Can I Divorce my wife for not sleeping with me Cancel reply

Email address is optional. If provided, your email will not be published or shared.