Mysterious Asgard microbes could solve a key question about life on Earth
CNN • • science
Key Points:
- New research reveals that some Asgard archaea, microbial ancestors of eukaryotes, are oxygen-tolerant and can use oxygen for energy, challenging the previous belief that they only lived in oxygen-free environments.
- The study, published in Nature, suggests that Asgards adapted to rising oxygen levels after the Great Oxidation Event, which may have facilitated their merger with bacteria and the evolution of complex eukaryotic cells.
- By analyzing hundreds of Asgard genomes from diverse environments, researchers identified proteins similar to those in eukaryotes that process oxygen, indicating that oxygen metabolism was likely present before the emergence of complex life.
- These findings support the theory that eukaryotes originated in oxygen-rich coastal environments
