Gene inversion triggered origination of brackish archaeal heterotrophs in the aftermath of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth

Abstract

Land-ocean interactions greatly impacted the evolution of coastal life on Earth. However, the geological forces and genetic mechanisms that shaped evolutionary adaptations and allowed microorganisms to inhabit coastal brackish waters remain largely unexplored. Here, we infer the evolutionary trajectory of the ubiquitous heterotrophic archaea Poseidoniales (Marine Group II archaea) across global aquatic habitats. Our results show that their brackish subgroups have evolved through the rearrangement of the magnesium transport gene corA that conferred osmotic-stress tolerance dated to over 600 million years ago. The coastal family of Poseidoniales showed a rapid increase in the evolutionary rate during and in the aftermath of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth (~700 million years ago), possibly in response to the enhanced phosphorus supply and the rise of algae. Our study highlights the close interplay between genetic changes and ecosystem transformations that boosted microbial diversification in the Neoproterozoic continental margins.