On the experimental silicification of microorganisms. III. Implications of the preservation of the green prokaryotic alga prochloron and other coccoids for interpretation of the microbial fossil record |
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| Authors: | Susan Francis Elso S Barghoorn Lynn Margulis |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Mass. 02215 U.S.A.;2. Departments of Biology and Geological Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 02138 U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Evidence for Precambrian fossil eukaryotic microorganisms has been based on: (1) the presence of internal ‘spots’ which have been variously interpreted to be remains of nuclei or pyrenoids of photosynthetic plastids or other organelles; (2) tetrahedral tetrad arrangement of cells; (3) trilete scars interpreted to be indicative of meiotic division: (4) large cell diameters; and (5) putative mitotic cell divisions. These features have been reported in fossils preserved in Precambrian cherts. We have studied modern microbial mats, thought to be analogues of Precambrian fossil communities, and found they may be silicified by laboratory procedures. In microbial mats from Baja California we have found many ‘spot cells’ that we could identify as remains of cyanophytes. We have silicified the newly discovered large prokaryotic coccoid green alga Prochloron and have found that it, like many cyanophytes previously silicified, preserves its structure and maintains its initial dimensions. In laboratory-silicified prokaryotic organisms we have found that all of the above criteria, supposedly characteristic of eukaryotes, can be observed. We conclude that there is no compelling morphological evidence for fossil eukaryotic microbes from Precambrian cherts. |
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