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Nature 451, 635-636 (7 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/451635a; Published online 6 February 2008
Evolutionary biology: Ancient bacteria liked it hot
Manolo Gouy1 & Marc Chaussidon2
Abstract
Proteins from ancestral bacteria have been modelled and reconstructed. Strikingly, the heat stability of these proteins parallels the temperatures of their ocean habitats, as determined from the geological record.
The study of the environment in which early life evolved has long been the domain of the physical sciences. For example, analyses of the chemical and isotopic compositions of rocks formed during the Archaean (from 3,800 million years ago to 2,500 million years ago) allow precise dating and reconstruction of environmental parameters at that time, such as seawater temperature and atmospheric composition.
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