Unravelling ancient microbial history with community proteogenomics and lipid geochemistry.
Our window into the Earth's ancient microbial past is narrow and obscured by missing data. However, we can glean information about ancient microbial ecosystems using fossil lipids (biomarkers) that are extracted from billion-year-old sedimentary rocks. In this Opinion article, we describe how environmental genomics and related methodologies will give molecular fossil research a boost, by increasing our knowledge about how evolutionary innovations in microorganisms have changed the surface of planet Earth.
Brocks
Jochen J
JJ
Research School of Earth Sciences, and Centre for Macroevolution and Macroecology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. jochen.brocks@anu.edu.au
Banfield
Jillian
J
D001105:Archaea / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018534:Earth, Planet; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005580:Fossils; D023281:Genomics; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D040901:Proteomics
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006838:Hydrocarbons