Photosynthesis Got an Early Start.

A recent study by Catherine Demoulin, Yannick Lara, Alexandre Lambion, and Emmanuelle Javaux has provided evidence for the presence of thylakoids, membrane-bound compartments where photosynthesis takes place, in microfossils that may be cyanobacteria. The researchers used transmission electron microscopy to examine fossils from Australia, Canada, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The discovery of preserved thylakoids within these microfossils establishes a minimum age of about 1.75 billion years ago for the divergence of cyanobacteria with and without thylakoids. This finding contributes to our understanding of the history of photosynthesis and the organisms that played a role in the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans. [Extracted from the article]