All life on earth requires a source of energy and organic carbon. There has been a continuous debate on whether autotrophic or heterotrophic metabolism came first. A very similar discussion exists concerning the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis and aerobic respiration. I put forward the synchronistic evolution hypothesis supposing that all metabolic processes develop in a bidirectional manner from the very first. Bidirectionality is claimed to be intrinsic to the evolution of all metabolic processes as (i) all biochemical reactions and enzymes are per se bidirectional, (ii) substrates need to be regenerated, and (iii) flux regulation requires flexibility of direction. Autotrophy and heterotrophy are thus inherent to each other. A scenario for the synchronistic development of oxygenic photosynthesis and aerobic respiration is described.

地球上的所有生命都需要能源和有机碳。关于自养或异养代谢首先出现一直有持续的争论。关于氧的光合作用和有氧呼吸的出现，存在着非常相似的讨论。我提出了同步进化假说，假设所有代谢过程从一开始就以双向方式发展。双向性被认为是所有新陈代谢过程的内在因素，因为（i）所有生化反应和酶本身都是双向；（ii）基板需要再生；（iii）流量调节需要方向灵活。因此，自养和异养是彼此固有的。描述了氧气光合作用和有氧呼吸同步发展的场景。