Overview
- The peer-reviewed study, published Tuesday in Nature Communications, dates biological molybdenum use to roughly 3.7–3.1 billion years ago.
- Researchers report that ancient microbes tapped molybdenum despite scant levels in Archean seawater, with hydrothermal vents flagged as likely local sources.
- The team screened genomic databases and used phylogenetic reconciliation to reconstruct the histories of proteins that transport and deploy molybdenum and tungsten.
- Findings place both molybdenum- and tungsten-using enzyme systems in the Archean, challenging the idea of a simple tungsten-first, molybdenum-later sequence.
- Molybdenum anchors enzymes that drive key carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur reactions, and NASA-funded authors say the work guides astrobiology to look for life that uses scarce metals under varied redox conditions.