Microbes Used to Breathe Arsenic Before Oxygen Arrived on Earth

SEE ALSO: MOON FOUND TO BE RUSTING DESPITE LACK OF OXYGEN, WATER

Pre-oxygen days

The oxygen cycle that plants and some microbes use in our times take water, sunlight, and CO2, then convert them into carbohydrates and oxygen. These are consumed by other organisms that require oxygen to breathe, and the cycle continues. 

But as the study pointed out, half of our Earth's lifetime was devoid of oxygen. So how did these other organisms survive? 

The lead author of the study and UConn professor of Marine Sciences and Geosciences, Pieter Visscher, and his team set out to answer just that question. 

There were multiple already-existing theories as to how life on Earth continued in the days before oxygen was available, but Visscher wasn't convinced. 

Arsenic had been on the list of potentialities since 2008 after the evidence was found. And in 2014, Visscher and his colleagues discovered further proof of arsenic-based photosynthesis. 

Then, the team found an active microbial mat in the Laguna La Brava, in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile that offered a breakthrough. These mats inhabit an environment that is completely devoid of oxygen, at high altitudes, where they are exposed to harsh conditions and plenty of UV rays. Perfect for a comparison to early-Earth days' conditions. 

Visscher explained that "The water is very high in arsenic as well. The water that flows over the mats contains hydrogen sulfide that is volcanic in origin and it flows very rapidly over these mats."

"I have been working with microbial mats for about 35 years or so. This is the only system on Earth where I could find a microbial mat that worked absolutely in the absence of oxygen," he continued.

What the team discovered was that the mats were creating carbonate deposits and making a new generation of stromatolites, layered sedimentary deposits — in many ways thanks to arsenic.

And it's not just on Earth that this type of equipment is being used to perform such research. Visscher pointed out that Mars' Perseverance Rover will use a similar tool on the red planet to look for life on Mars.