The Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) that occurred 2.4 billion years ago altered the course of life on Earth forever by increasing the abundance of oxygen in the atmosphere. Bacteria that existed before the GEO did not rely on the presence of oxygen as a source for metabolism, such as the billion-year-old Cyanobacteria. Melainabacteria is a close relative to Cyanobacteria, though Melainabacteria diverged and do not photosynthesize. Cyanobacteria produced atmospheric oxygen and supported the development of early plant cells.