Nickel limited methanogens shaped Precambrian climate

Nickel limited methanogens shaped Precambrian climate | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Nickel limited methanogens shaped Precambrian climate Kurt Konhauser, Heng Wang, Zichao Zheng, Jiaxin Wan, Yan Huang, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483247/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract High nickel (Ni) availability during the Archean enabled the proliferation of Ni-dependent methanogens1,2, whose methane (CH4) emissions sustained a strong greenhouse effect that offset the reduced luminosity of the young Sun3. By the end of the Archean eon, a severe decline in Ni availability—a phenomenon known as the Nickel Famine (~2.7-2.5 Ga)—triggered a drop in methane production, contributing to global cooling, and a subsequent rise in atmospheric oxygen (O2)4,5. Intriguingly, despite Earth’s permanent decline in bioavailable Ni6,7, methanogens utilizing organic energy source such as acetate and methyl compounds remain pivotal agents in modern methane emissions and global carbon cycling8,9. Here, we demonstrated that organotrophic methanogens are inherently more tolerant to Ni scarcity, with less inhibitory impact on growth rates and methane production under Ni limitation. We attribute this resilience to a systematic metabolism retooling—replacement of ancestral [NiFe]-hydrogenase-based energy system with an electron transport chain (ETC), which underpins the advent of organotrophic methanogens. Divergence time estimations reveal that the emergence of organotrophic methanogenesis aligned with the Nickel Famine. This temporal correlation suggests that the profound metabolic innovation was triggered by the protracted decline in environmental Ni bioavailability. It marks a key evolutionary adaptation to a major geochemical shift, revealing how microbial metabolic flexibility regulates planetary processes, enabled methanogens to endure sustained Ni limitation, and explains the ~1.5 Gyr delay in further global glaciations. Biological sciences/Evolution/Molecular evolution Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryTables1stsubmission.xlsx Supplemental Table SupplementaryFile1stsubmission.pdf Supplemental Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7483247","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":512052363,"identity":"3ab0ff45-1c12-417b-a8c8-182b44e724ee","order_by":0,"name":"Kurt 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climate","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research 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By the end of the Archean eon, a severe decline in Ni availability—a phenomenon known as the Nickel Famine (~2.7-2.5 Ga)—triggered a drop in methane production, contributing to global cooling, and a subsequent rise in atmospheric oxygen (O2)4,5. Intriguingly, despite Earth’s permanent decline in bioavailable Ni6,7, methanogens utilizing organic energy source such as acetate and methyl compounds remain pivotal agents in modern methane emissions and global carbon cycling8,9. Here, we demonstrated that organotrophic methanogens are inherently more tolerant to Ni scarcity, with less inhibitory impact on growth rates and methane production under Ni limitation. We attribute this resilience to a systematic metabolism retooling—replacement of ancestral [NiFe]-hydrogenase-based energy system with an electron transport chain (ETC), which underpins the advent of organotrophic methanogens. Divergence time estimations reveal that the emergence of organotrophic methanogenesis aligned with the Nickel Famine. This temporal correlation suggests that the profound metabolic innovation was triggered by the protracted decline in environmental Ni bioavailability. It marks a key evolutionary adaptation to a major geochemical shift, revealing how microbial metabolic flexibility regulates planetary processes, enabled methanogens to endure sustained Ni limitation, and explains the ~1.5 Gyr delay in further global glaciations.","manuscriptTitle":"Nickel limited methanogens shaped Precambrian climate","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-09 13:17:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483247/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2d0c08a5-cd7b-4dff-97b8-f69532055728","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 9th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":54386936,"name":"Biological sciences/Evolution/Molecular evolution"},{"id":54386937,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-12T15:25:29+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-09 13:17:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7483247","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7483247","identity":"rs-7483247","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}