Molybdenum Availability in the Ecosystems (Geochemistry Aspects, When and How Did It Appear?)

The distribution of life on Earth is constrained by the distribution of 20 bio-essential nutrients. Particularly, the availability of those elements required as cofactor might have influenced the timing of origin and evolution of metabolic pathways. Since the amount of bio-available Mo strongly changed during evolution to form anoxic to oxygenic environments, it is interesting to speculate about the appearance of Mo containing enzymes in relation to other metals with similar chemical characteristics.