The evolution of photosynthesis refers to the origin and subsequent evolution of
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...
, the process by which light energy is used to assemble
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
s from
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
and a hydrogen and electron source such as water. It is believed that the pigments used for photosynthesis initially were used for protection from the harmful effects of light, particularly ultraviolet light. The process of photosynthesis was discovered by
Jan Ingenhousz, a Dutch-born British physician and scientist, first publishing about it in 1779.
The first photosynthetic organisms probably
evolved early in the
evolutionary history of life
The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and extinct organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to the present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as ''Ga'', for '' gigaannum'') and ...
and most likely used
reducing agent
In chemistry, a reducing agent (also known as a reductant, reducer, or electron donor) is a chemical species that "donates" an electron to an (called the , , , or ).
Examples of substances that are common reducing agents include hydrogen, carbon ...
s such as
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
rather than water.
There are three major
metabolic pathway
In biochemistry, a metabolic pathway is a linked series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell (biology), cell. The reactants, products, and Metabolic intermediate, intermediates of an enzymatic reaction are known as metabolites, which are ...
s by which photosynthesis is carried out:
C3 photosynthesis,
C4 photosynthesis, and
CAM photosynthesis. C
3 photosynthesis is the oldest and most common form. A C3 plant uses the
Calvin cycle for the initial steps that incorporate into organic material. A C4 plant prefaces the Calvin cycle with reactions that incorporate into four-carbon compounds. A CAM plant uses
crassulacean acid metabolism, an adaptation for photosynthesis in arid conditions. C4 and CAM plants have special adaptations that save water.
Origin
Available evidence from geobiological studies of
Archean
The Archean ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan), in older sources sometimes called the Archaeozoic, is the second of the four geologic eons of Earth's history of Earth, history, preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic and t ...
(>2500 Ma)
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
s indicates that life existed 3500 Ma. Fossils of what are thought to be
filamentous photosynthetic organisms have been dated at 3.4 billion years old, consistent with recent studies of photosynthesis.
Early photosynthetic systems, such as those from
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
and
purple sulfur and
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
and
purple nonsulfur bacteria, are thought to have been anoxygenic, using various molecules as
electron donors. Green and purple sulfur bacteria are thought to have used
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
and
hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...
as electron and hydrogen donors. Green nonsulfur bacteria used various
amino and other
organic acids. Purple nonsulfur bacteria used a variety of nonspecific organic and inorganic molecules.
[Tang, K.-H., Tang, Y. J., Blankenship, R. E. (2011). "Carbon metabolic pathways in phototrophic bacteria and their broader evolutionary implications" ''Frontiers in Microbiology'' 2: Atc. 165. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/micb.2011.00165] It is suggested that photosynthesis likely originated at low-wavelength geothermal light from acidic hydrothermal vents,
Zn-
tetrapyrroles were the first photochemically active pigments, the photosynthetic organisms were anaerobic and relied on without relying on H
2 emitted by alkaline hydrothermal vents. The divergence of
anoxygenic photosynthetic organisms at the
photic zone
The photic zone (or euphotic zone, epipelagic zone, or sunlight zone) is the uppermost layer of a body of water that receives sunlight, allowing phytoplankton to perform photosynthesis. It undergoes a series of physical, chemical, and biological ...
could have led to the ability to strip electrons from more efficiently under
ultraviolet radiation
Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of t ...
. There is geochemical evidence that suggests that anaerobic photosynthesis emerged 3.3 to 3.5 billion years ago. The organisms later developed a Chlorophyll F synthase. They could have also stripped electrons from soluble metal ions, although it is unknown.
The first oxygenic photosynthetic organisms are proposed to be -dependent.
It is also suggested photosynthesis originated under sunlight, using emitted by volcanoes and hydrothermal vents which ended the need for scarce H
2 emitted by alkaline hydrothermal vents. Oxygenic photosynthesis uses water as an electron donor, which is
oxidized to molecular
oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
() in the
photosynthetic reaction center. The biochemical capacity for oxygenic photosynthesis evolved in a
common ancestor of extant
cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...
. The first appearance of free oxygen in the
atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...
is sometimes referred to as the
oxygen catastrophe. The geological record indicates that this transforming event took place during the
Paleoproterozoic
The Paleoproterozoic Era (also spelled Palaeoproterozoic) is the first of the three sub-divisions ( eras) of the Proterozoic eon, and also the longest era of the Earth's geological history, spanning from (2.5–1.6 Ga). It is further sub ...
era at least 2450–2320 million years ago (Ma), and, it is speculated, much earlier. A clear paleontological window on cyanobacterial
evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
opened about 2000 Ma, revealing an already-diverse biota of blue-greens.
Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...
remained principal
primary producers throughout the
Proterozoic Eon (2500–543 Ma), in part because the redox structure of the oceans favored photoautotrophs capable of
nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular dinitrogen () is converted into ammonia (). It occurs both biologically and abiological nitrogen fixation, abiologically in chemical industry, chemical industries. Biological nitrogen ...
.
Green algae
The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...
joined blue-greens as major primary producers on
continental shelves near the end of the
Proterozoic; but only with the
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
(251–65 Ma) radiations of dinoflagellates, coccolithophorids, and diatoms did
primary production in marine shelf waters take modern form. Cyanobacteria remain critical to
marine ecosystem
Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in Saline water, waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 7 ...
s as primary producers in
oceanic gyres, as agents of biological nitrogen fixation, and, in modified form, as the
plastids of marine algae.
Modern photosynthesis in plants and most photosynthetic prokaryotes is oxygenic.
Timeline of photosynthesis on Earth
Source:
Symbiosis and the origin of chloroplasts

Several groups of animals have formed
symbiotic
Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...
relationships with photosynthetic algae. These are most common in
coral
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
s,
sponges and
sea anemone
Sea anemones ( ) are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates constituting the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemone ...
s. It is presumed that this is due to the particularly simple
body plan
A body plan, (), or ground plan is a set of morphology (biology), morphological phenotypic trait, features common to many members of a phylum of animals. The vertebrates share one body plan, while invertebrates have many.
This term, usually app ...
s and large surface areas of these animals compared to their volumes. In addition, a few marine
mollusk
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
s ''
Elysia viridis'' and ''
Elysia chlorotica'' also maintain a symbiotic relationship with chloroplasts they capture from the algae in their diet and then store in their bodies. This allows the mollusks to survive solely by photosynthesis for several months at a time.
Some of the genes from the plant
cell nucleus
The cell nucleus (; : nuclei) is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, have #Anucleated_cells, ...
have even been transferred to the slugs, so that the chloroplasts can be supplied with proteins that they need to survive.
An even closer form of symbiosis may explain the origin of chloroplasts. Chloroplasts have many similarities with
photosynthetic bacteria, including a circular
chromosome
A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...
, prokaryotic-type
ribosomes, and similar proteins in the photosynthetic reaction center.
The
endosymbiotic theory suggests that photosynthetic bacteria were acquired (by
endocytosis) by early
eukaryotic
The eukaryotes ( ) constitute the Domain (biology), domain of Eukaryota or Eukarya, organisms whose Cell (biology), cells have a membrane-bound cell nucleus, nucleus. All animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, seaweeds, and many unicellular organisms ...
cells to form the first
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
cells. Therefore, chloroplasts may be photosynthetic bacteria that adapted to life inside plant cells. Like
mitochondria, chloroplasts still possess their own DNA, separate from the
nuclear DNA
Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. ...
of their plant host cells and the genes in this chloroplast DNA resemble those in
cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...
.
DNA in chloroplasts codes for
redox
Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is t ...
proteins such as photosynthetic reaction centers. The
CoRR Hypothesis proposes that this Co-location is required for Redox Regulation.
Evolution of photosynthetic pathways

In its simplest form, photosynthesis is adding water to to produce sugars and oxygen, but a complex chemical pathway is involved, facilitated along the way by a range of
enzymes
An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as pro ...
and co-enzymes. The
enzyme
An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
RuBisCO is responsible for "fixing" – that is, it attaches it to a carbon-based molecule to form a sugar, which can be used by the plant, releasing an oxygen molecule along the way. However, the enzyme is notoriously inefficient, and just as effectively will also fix oxygen instead of in a process called
photorespiration. This is energetically costly as the plant has to use energy to turn the products of photorespiration back into a form that can react with .
Concentrating carbon
The
C4 metabolic pathway is a valuable recent evolutionary innovation in plants, involving a complex set of adaptive changes to
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
and
gene expression
Gene expression is the process (including its Regulation of gene expression, regulation) by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, proteins or non-coding RNA, ...
patterns.
About 7600 species of plants use carbon fixation, which represents about 3% of all terrestrial species of plants. All these 7600 species are
angiosperm
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...
s.
C
4 plants evolved carbon concentrating mechanisms. These work by increasing the concentration of around RuBisCO, thereby facilitating photosynthesis and decreasing photorespiration. The process of concentrating around RuBisCO requires more energy than allowing gases to
diffuse, but under certain conditions – i.e. warm temperatures (>25 °C), low concentrations, or high oxygen concentrations – pays off in terms of the decreased loss of sugars through photorespiration.
One type of C
4 metabolism employs a so-called
Kranz anatomy. This transports through an outer mesophyll layer, via a range of organic molecules, to the central bundle sheath cells, where the is released. In this way, is concentrated near the site of RuBisCO operation. Because RuBisCO is operating in an environment with much more than it otherwise would be, it performs more efficiently. In C
4 photosynthesis, carbon is fixed by an enzyme called PEP carboxylase, which, like all enzymes involved in C
4 photosynthesis, originated from non-photosynthetic ancestral enzymes.
A second mechanism,
CAM photosynthesis, is a
carbon fixation
Biological carbon fixation, or сarbon assimilation, is the Biological process, process by which living organisms convert Total inorganic carbon, inorganic carbon (particularly carbon dioxide, ) to Organic compound, organic compounds. These o ...
pathway that evolved in some
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
s as an adaptation to
arid conditions.
The most important benefit of CAM to the plant is the ability to leave most leaf
stoma
In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek language, Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the Epidermis (botany), epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exc ...
ta closed during the day. This reduces water loss due to
evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...
. The stomata open at night to collect , which is stored as the four-carbon acid
malate, and then used during
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...
during the day. The pre-collected is concentrated around the enzyme
RuBisCO, increasing
photosynthetic efficiency. More is then harvested from the atmosphere when stomata open, during the cool, moist nights, reducing water loss.
CAM has
evolved convergently many times. It occurs in 16,000 species (about 7% of plants), belonging to over 300
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and around 40
families, but this is thought to be a considerable underestimate. It is found in
quillworts (relatives of
club mosses), in
fern
The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
s, and in
gymnosperms
The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...
, but the great majority of plants using CAM are
angiosperm
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...
s (flowering plants).
Evolutionary record
These two pathways, with the same effect on RuBisCO, evolved a number of times independently – indeed, C
4 alone arose 62 times in 18 different plant
families. A number of 'pre-adaptations' seem to have paved the way for C
4, leading to its clustering in certain clades: it has most frequently developed in plants that already had features such as extensive vascular bundle sheath tissue.
Whole-genome and individual gene duplication are also associated with C
4 evolution. Many potential evolutionary pathways resulting in the
phenotype
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...
are possible and have been characterised using
Bayesian inference,
confirming that non-photosynthetic adaptations often provide evolutionary stepping stones for the further evolution of .

The C
4 construction is most famously used by a subset of grasses, while CAM is employed by many succulents and
cacti. The trait appears to have emerged during the
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
, around ;
however, they did not become ecologically significant until the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
, .
[ Remarkably, some charcoalified fossils preserve tissue organised into the Kranz anatomy, with intact bundle sheath cells,] allowing the presence C4 metabolism to be identified without doubt at this time. Isotopic markers are used to deduce their distribution and significance.
C3 plants preferentially use the lighter of two isotopes of carbon in the atmosphere, 12C, which is more readily involved in the chemical pathways involved in its fixation. Because C4 metabolism involves a further chemical step, this effect is accentuated. Plant material can be analysed to deduce the ratio of the heavier 13C to 12C. This ratio is denoted . C3 plants are on average around 14‰ (parts per thousand) lighter than the atmospheric ratio, while C4 plants are about 28‰ lighter. The of CAM plants depends on the percentage of carbon fixed at night relative to what is fixed in the day, being closer to C3 plants if they fix most carbon in the day and closer to C4 plants if they fix all their carbon at night.
It is troublesome procuring original fossil material in sufficient quantity to analyse the grass itself, but fortunately there is a good proxy: horses. Horses were globally widespread in the period of interest, and browsed almost exclusively on grasses. There's an old phrase in isotope palæontology, "you are what you eat (plus a little bit)" – this refers to the fact that organisms reflect the isotopic composition of whatever they eat, plus a small adjustment factor. There is a good record of horse teeth throughout the globe, and their has been measured. The record shows a sharp negative inflection around , during the Messinian, and this is interpreted as the rise of C4 plants on a global scale.
When is C4 an advantage?
While C4 enhances the efficiency of RuBisCO, the concentration of carbon is highly energy intensive. This means that C4 plants only have an advantage over C3 organisms in certain conditions: namely, high temperatures and low rainfall. C4 plants also need high levels of sunlight to thrive. Models suggest that, without wildfires removing shade-casting trees and shrubs, there would be no space for C4 plants. But, wildfires have occurred for 400 million years – why did C4 take so long to arise, and then appear independently so many times? The Carboniferous period (~) had notoriously high oxygen levels – almost enough to allow spontaneous combustion[Above 35% atmospheric oxygen, the spread of fire is unstoppable. Many models have predicted higher values and had to be revised, because there was not a total extinction of plant life.] – and very low , but there is no C4 isotopic signature to be found. And there doesn't seem to be a sudden trigger for the Miocene rise.
During the Miocene, the atmosphere and climate were relatively stable. If anything, increased gradually from before settling down to concentrations similar to the Holocene. This suggests that it did not have a key role in invoking C4 evolution.[ Grasses themselves (the group which would give rise to the most occurrences of C4) had probably been around for 60 million years or more, so had had plenty of time to evolve C4,] which, in any case, is present in a diverse range of groups and thus evolved independently. There is a strong signal of climate change in South Asia;[ increasing aridity – hence increasing fire frequency and intensity – may have led to an increase in the importance of grasslands.] However, this is difficult to reconcile with the North American record.[ It is possible that the signal is entirely biological, forced by the fire- and grazer-][ driven acceleration of grass evolution – which, both by increasing weathering and incorporating more carbon into sediments, reduced atmospheric levels.] Finally, there is evidence that the onset of C4 from is a biased signal, which only holds true for North America, from where most samples originate; emerging evidence suggests that grasslands evolved to a dominant state at least 15Ma earlier in South America.
See also
* Photorespiration
* Evolution of plants
* Plastid evolution
References
{{reflist
Evolutionary biology
Photosynthesis