Essay Archive - Changes in the Atmosphere Causing Multicellularity
Changes in the Atmosphere Causing Multicellularity
About 2.5 billion years ago, oxygen began slowly to accumulate in the
atmosphere, as a result of the photosynthetic activity of the cyanobacteria.
Those prokaryotes that were able to use oxygen in ATP production gained a strong
advantage, and so they began to prosper and increase. Some of these cells may
have evolved into modern forms of aerobic bacteria. Other cells may have become
symbionts with larger cells and evolved into mitochondria. As the amount of
oxygen and other atmospheric gasses increased, they started blocking out deadly
u.v. ray....
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