Claim CB510:
Evolution cannot explain the origin of photosynthesis.
Source:
Response:
- This is yet another argument from incredulity.
Not knowing how
something evolves is a limit of ourselves, not of evolution.
We would not expect the evolution of photosynthesis to be easy to
unravel. Photosynthesis has been evolving for more than three billion
years, originating even before eukaryotes (Awramik 1992). Its early
history involved gene transfer among several phyla of bacteria, making
the trail harder to trace genetically (Raymond et al. 2003). Different
components of photosynthesis have independent evolutionary pathways.
However, much progress has been made in determining how photosynthesis
evolved (Baymann et al. 2001; Blankenship 1992; Blankenship and
Hartman 1998; Xiong and Bauer 2002).
References:
- Awramik, S. M., 1992. The oldest records of photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis Research 33: 75-89.
- Baymann, F., M. Brugna, U. Muhlenhoff and W. Nitschke., 2001. Daddy,
where did (PS)I come from? Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1507(1-3):
291-310.
- Blankenship, R. E., 1992. Origin and early evolution of photosynthesis.
Photosynth Res. 33: 91-111.
- Blankenship, R. E. and H. Hartman, 1998. The origin and evolution of
oxygenic photosynthesis. Trends in Biochemical Sciences 23(3):
94-97.
- Raymond, J., O. Zhaxybayeva, J. P. Gogarten and R. E. Blankenship, 2003.
Evolution of photosynthetic prokaryotes: a maximum-likelihood mapping
approach. Philosophical Transactions, Biological Sciences
358(1429):
223-230.
- Xiong, J. and C. E. Bauer, 2002. (see below)
Further Reading:
Xiong, J. and C. E. Bauer, 2002. Complex evolution of photosynthesis.
Annual Review of Plant Biology 53: 503-521. (technical)
created 2003-7-30, modified 2004-8-25
