1. Opportunities in Global Change & Geobiology/Biogeochemistry
Emerge from Advances in:
Understanding of systems & processes
Analytical capabilities & instrumentation
Interdisciplinary collaborations & synergies
that stimulate innovative questions, prompt new research strategies, and facilitate discoveries
further guided by funding initiatives.
Simon Brassell
Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science, April

2. Understanding of Systems & Process
Examples of Focal Points:
Rapid climate change & extreme climates:
Multiproxy approach - isotopes and molecules.
Reconstruction of dynamics of transitions.
Biogeochemical cycling & interactions:
Integrated assessment of dependencies.
Microbial communities & energy sources:
Deep biosphere, life without light, Martian analogs.
Connections to Earth & evolutionary history.
Simon Brassell
Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science, April

3. Analytical Capabilities
Citius-Minimus-Perquisitius:
Faster, with less, more accurately.
Focus: Biomacromolecules & rare isotopes.
Spatial: Intracellular functions & active interfaces.
Temporal: Rates; High-resolution stratigraphy.
Centers and distributed instrumentation.
Innovative developments at state-of-the-art facilities.
Dispersed application of measurements & protocols.
Development of data bases & geoinformatics.
Simon Brassell
Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science, April

4. Interdisciplinary Collaborations
Convincing Others of Geologic Relevance:
Global Climate Change - connecting threads:
Disparate temporal scales of environmental impacts.
Record of biological processes over deep time:
Evolutionary outcomes connect extant & extinct life.
Conservatism of biogeochemical pathways.
Public outreach to scientific community.
Serendipity.
Simon Brassell
Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science, April

5. Preservation of Ancient Biomolecules
Molecular fragments help verify evolution-ary lineages
Schweitzer, Asara & Horner, 2007
CRETACEOUS
Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science, April

6. Microbial Diversity Nitrogen Cycling: “Radiation Eaters”:
Representation of Anammox cells
Nitrogen Cycling:
Recognition of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria.
Toxic intermediates: hydrazine (N2H4), hydroxylamine (NH2OH).
“Radiation Eaters”:
Radiation generated H2O2 breaks down pyrite yielding sulfates.
Web archive
Stacking of ladderane membrane lipids
Sinninghe-Damsté et al.
Simon Brassell
Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science, April

7. Cyanobacteria: [O2] & N2 Fixation
Critical change in N2-fixing cyanobacteria associated with increasing levels of O2: adaptive biochemistry

8. Biota Adapted to Ocean Dysoxia Phylogeny based on 16S RNA
Nitrogen Cycling:
Co-occurrence of N2-fixation, 2-Mehopanes.
Dysoxic ocean conditions favor non-heterocystous cyanobacteria, comparable with processes during atmospheric oxygenation.
Hopanoids & 2-Mehopanoids
Only hopanoids
N2 fixers
Do not fix N2
This is what is known about occurrences of 2-methylhopanoids in cyanobacteria cultures.
The blue filled boxes represent cyano that biosynthesize 2-MeH and hopanoids.
The blue unfilled boxes represent cyano that biosynthesize hopanoids but not 2-MeH.
Thus, we see that unicellular cyanobacteria biosynthesize both hopanoids and 2-methylhopanoids.
2-methylhopanoids are rare in species of non-heterocystous and non-branching heterocystous cyanobacteria of groups III and IV.
Branching-heterocystous cyanobacteria produce hopanoids, but not 2-methylhopanoids .
Phylogeny based on 16S RNA
Cyanobacterial Types
I – Unicellular (binary fission);
I – Unicellular (multiple fission)
III – Filamentous non-heterocystous
IV – Filamentous non-branching heterocystous
V – Filamentous branching heterocystous
(Summons et al, 1999;
Tomitani et al. 2006)