We can trace ancestry all the way back to LUCA (i.e., the last universal common ancestor, from
~3.5 billion years ago) from present-day eukaryotic algae. We dont think LUCA was an
oxygenic photosynthesizer, nor do we think it was an aerobic respirer. But the algae are both of
these. Three questions here: 1.) in what order (photosynthesis then respiration, or vice versa); 2.)
when (+/- ~10-20% is close enough, given our current uncertainty about timing); and 3.) how did
the eukaryotic algal lineage come by these two metabolic capabilities?.
We can trace ancestry all the way back to LUCA (i.e., the last unive.pdf
1. We can trace ancestry all the way back to LUCA (i.e., the last universal common ancestor, from
~3.5 billion years ago) from present-day eukaryotic algae. We dont think LUCA was an
oxygenic photosynthesizer, nor do we think it was an aerobic respirer. But the algae are both of
these. Three questions here: 1.) in what order (photosynthesis then respiration, or vice versa); 2.)
when (+/- ~10-20% is close enough, given our current uncertainty about timing); and 3.) how did
the eukaryotic algal lineage come by these two metabolic capabilities?
