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The evolution of ecological tolerance in prokaryotes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

Andrew H. Knoll  and
John Bauld
Andrew H. Knoll
Affiliation:
Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A.
John Bauld
Affiliation:
Division of Continental Geology, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia.
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Abstract

The ecological ranges of Archaeobacteria and Eubacteria are constrained by a requirement for liquid water and the physico-chemical stability limits of biomolecules, but within this broad envelope, prokaryotes have evolved adaptations that permit them to tolerate a remarkable spectrum of habitats. Laboratory experiments indicate that prokaryotes can adapt rapidly to novel environmental conditions, yet geological studies suggest early diversification and long-term stasis within the prokaryotic kingdoms. These apparently contradictory perspectives can be reconciled by understanding that, in general, rates and patterns of prokaryotic evolution reflect the developmental history of the Earth's surface environments. Our understanding of modern microbial ecology provides a lens through which our accumulating knowledge of physiology, molecular phylogeny and the Earth's history can be integrated and focussed on the phenomenon of prokaryotic evolution.

Keywords

ArchaeancyanobacteriaProterozoic
Type
Physiological adaptations in some recent and fossil organisms
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 80 , Issue 3-4: Environments and Physiology of Fossil Organisms , 1989 , pp. 209 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1989

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