This is an animated depiction of the origins and diversification of oxygenic photosynthesis. I completed this brief video in the hours before my Ph.D. dissertation defense in February 2006 with generous help from a few fellow graduate students and postdocs at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University.

The early origins of oxygenic photosynthesis have been shown to be directly related to the biochemical innovation of combining a-proteobacteria (purple bacteria) with green non-sulfur bacteria. Both of the modern analogs of these organisms carry out anaerobic photosynthesis- and do not split water to produce oxygen....

Primary endosymbiosis.

Secondary endosymbiosis.

more text to come, including a thorough reference list for the processes mentioned.