Bisnorgammacerane traces predatory pressure and the persistent rise of algal ecosystems after Snowball Earth

Lennart M. Maldegem (), Pierre Sansjofre, Johan W. H. Weijers, Klaus Wolkenstein, Paul K. Strother, Lars Wörmer, Jens Hefter, Benjamin J. Nettersheim, Yosuke Hoshino, Stefan Schouten, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté, Nilamoni Nath, Christian Griesinger, Nikolay B. Kuznetsov, Marcel Elie, Marcus Elvert, Erik Tegelaar, Gerd Gleixner and Christian Hallmann ()
Additional contact information
Lennart M. Maldegem: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Pierre Sansjofre: Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Johan W. H. Weijers: Shell Global Solutions International B.V.
Klaus Wolkenstein: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Paul K. Strother: Boston College
Lars Wörmer: University of Bremen
Jens Hefter: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Benjamin J. Nettersheim: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Yosuke Hoshino: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Stefan Schouten: Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University
Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté: Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University
Nilamoni Nath: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Christian Griesinger: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Nikolay B. Kuznetsov: Russian Academy of Sciences
Marcel Elie: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO)
Marcus Elvert: University of Bremen
Erik Tegelaar: Shell Global Solutions International B.V.
Gerd Gleixner: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Christian Hallmann: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Eukaryotic algae rose to ecological relevance after the Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth glaciations, but the causes for this consequential evolutionary transition remain enigmatic. Cap carbonates were globally deposited directly after these glaciations, but they are usually organic barren or thermally overprinted. Here we show that uniquely-preserved cap dolostones of the Araras Group contain exceptional abundances of a newly identified biomarker: 25,28-bisnorgammacerane. Its secular occurrence, carbon isotope systematics and co-occurrence with other demethylated terpenoids suggest a mechanistic connection to extensive microbial degradation of ciliate-derived biomass in bacterially dominated ecosystems. Declining 25,28-bisnorgammacerane concentrations, and a parallel rise of steranes over hopanes, indicate the transition from a bacterial to eukaryotic dominated ecosystem after the Marinoan deglaciation. Nutrient levels already increased during the Cryogenian and were a prerequisite, but not the ultimate driver for the algal rise. Intense predatory pressure by bacterivorous protists may have irrevocably cleared self-sustaining cyanobacterial ecosystems, thereby creating the ecological opportunity that allowed for the persistent rise of eukaryotic algae to global importance.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08306-x

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