Diurnal Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycling and enhanced O2 production in a simulated Archean marine oxygen oasis

Abstract

Cyanobacterial photosynthesis is thought to have oxygenated Earth’s atmosphere during the Great Oxidation Event, but these organisms had to overcome the toxic effects of iron. Here the authors simulate Archaean conditions in Cyanobacterial cultures and find that gas exchange and rust formation alleviated iron toxicity.