Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP)

Seminar Detail

The transition from anoxygenic to oxygenic photosynthesis and how it changed the Earth

Presenter: Robert Blankenship

May 27, 2003 12:00 AM Pacific

The buildup of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere that began about 2.2 BYA
was one of the most important events in the history of the planet. While
there is consensus that this increase in free oxygen was the result of
oxygenic photosynthesis, very little is known about the evolutionary
events that had to take place for this event to take place. Before
oxygenic photosynthesis was invented there was a more primitive
anoxygenic, or non-oxygen-evolving form of photosynthesis. This talk
will bring together a variety of lines of evidence, including
comparative biochemistry, structural biology and genomics to try to gain
insights into how this transition took place.

Participation Instructions

http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/seminars/instructions.cfm