Table 1 Isotopic discrimination, productivity, and O2 sensitivity of extant carbon fixation pathways.

From: The curious consistency of carbon biosignatures over billions of years of Earth-life coevolution

Pathway

Associated taxaa

Modern productivity (Pg C/yr)b

13C/12C isotope discrimination Δδ13C (‰)

Isotope discrimination references

Pathway O2 sensitive?b

CBB

Cyanobacteria [97]

Eukaryota [98, 99]

 photoautotrophs

Proteobacteria [100]

 autotrophic Alpha-, Beta-, Gammaproteobacteria

Chloroflexi [101]

 Oscillochloridaceae

Firmicutes [102]

 Sulfobacillus spp.

~100

~10 to 35

[26, 44, 45, 103,104,105]

Yes

rTCA

Aquificae [106]

 Aquificales

Chlorobi [107]

 Chlorobiales

Nitrospirae [108]

 autotrophs

Proteobacteria

 Magnetococcus sp. MC-1

 Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus

~1

~2 to 23

[44, 45, 103,104,105]

Yes

roTCA

Aquificae

 Thermosulfidibacter takaii

Proteobacteria

 sulfur-reducing Deltaproteobacteria

Unknown

Unknown

N/A

Unknown

HP/HB

Crenarchaeota [109]

 Sulfolobales

 Marine group I [110]

Thaumarchaeota [111]

~0.7

~0 to 4

[44]

No

Wood–Ljungdahl

Euryarchaeota [112]

 Archaeoglobales

 methanogens

Firmicutes

 acetogens

Planctomycetes [113]

 anaerobic ammonium-oxidizers

Proteobacteria

 autotrophic Deltaproteobacteria

Spirochaetes [113]

 Treponema primitia

~0.1

~5 to 80

[45, 46, 50, 51, 53, 114]

Yes

DC/HB

Crenarchaeota

 Thermoproteales

 Desulfurococcales

<0.1

~0 to 4

[44, 45]

Yes

3HP

Chloroflexi

 Chloroflexaceae

<0.1

~0 to 14

[20, 44, 115]

No

Reductive glycinec

Proteobacteria

 Candidatus Phosphitivorax anaerolimi

<0.1

Unknown

N/A

Unknown

  1. Isotopic discrimination reported from literature, calculated as Δδ13C = δ13Cproduct − δ13Creactant, where product is biomass (or acetate/methane for acetogens/methanogens, respectively, utilizing the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway) and reactant is source carbon in growth media.
  2. CBB Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle, DC/HB dicarboxylate–4-hydroxybutyrate cycle, HP/HB 3-Hydroxyproprionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle, roTCA reverse oxidative tricarboxylic acid cycle, rTCA reductive citric acid cycle, 3HP 3-hydroxyproprionate bicycle.
  3. aAssociated taxa from Berg et al. [37], Hugler and Sievert [116], Ward and Shih [25], and references therein. References for definitions of informal taxonomic groups are listed within the table at first instance. Listed taxa are not necessarily diagnostic of each pathway, but rather describe major groups of organisms where pathway can be found.
  4. bModern productivity values from [38, 117,118,119,120,121], and O2 sensitivity data from Berg [122].
  5. cRecently proposed pathway for the Deltaproteobacterium Candidatus Phosphitivorax anaerolimi [36].