Early evolution: prokaryotes, the new kids on the block.
@article{Poole1999EarlyEP,
title={Early evolution: prokaryotes, the new kids on the block.},
author={Anthony M. Poole and D C Jeffares and David Penny},
journal={BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology},
year={1999},
volume={21 10},
pages={
880-9
}
}Prokaryotes are generally assumed to be the oldest existing form of life on earth. This assumption, however, makes it difficult to understand certain aspects of the transition from earlier stages in the origin of life to more complex ones, and it does not account for many apparently ancient features in the eukaryotes. From a model of the RNA world, based on relic RNA species in modern organisms, one can infer that there was an absolute requirement for a high-accuracy RNA replicase even before…
158 Citations
Origin of eukaryotes from within archaea, archaeal eukaryome and bursts of gene gain: eukaryogenesis just made easier?
- BiologyPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- 2015
Comparative genomic analysis clearly shows that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) possessed most of the signature complex features of modern eUKaryotic cells, in particular the mitochondria, the endomembrane system including the nucleus, an advanced cytoskeleton and the ubiquitin network.
On the Origin of Meiosis in Eukaryotic Evolution: Coevolution of Meiosis and Mitosis from Feeble Beginnings
- Biology
- 2007
The Coevolution Hypothesis for the origin of meiosis is called—that both mitotic segregation mechanisms and meiotic recombination and chromosome reshuffling occurred very early and kept improving with increasing complexity during the evolution of eukaryotes.
The RNA world hypothesis: the worst theory of the early evolution of life (except for all the others)a
- BiologyBiology Direct
- 2012
It is argued that the RNA world hypothesis is the best the authors currently have to help understand the backstory to contemporary biology, and that an alternative theory known as ‘proteins first' holds that proteins either preceded RNA in evolution, or – at the very least – that proteins and RNA coevolved.
Does the Ribosome Challenge our Understanding of the RNA World?
- BiologyJournal of Molecular Evolution
- 2015
It is argued that evolution of the early ribosome requires Darwinian evolution, and that, while chemical evolution could give rise to peptidyl transferase activity, it is insufficient for subsequent improvement of a proto-PTC, or for ongoing coevolution of the proto- PTC with its early non-templated peptide products.
The persistent contributions of RNA to eukaryotic gen(om)e architecture and cellular function.
- BiologyCold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology
- 2014
Currently, the best scenario for earliest forms of life is based on RNA molecules as they have the proven ability to catalyze enzymatic reactions and harbor genetic information. Evolutionary…
The Natural Evolutionary Relationships among Prokaryotes
- BiologyCritical reviews in microbiology
- 2000
It is shown that the main eubacterial phyla are related to each other linearly rather than in a tree-like manner, suggesting that the major evolutionary changes within prokaryotes (bacteria) have occurred in a directional manner.
RNase MRP and the RNA processing cascade in the eukaryotic ancestor
- BiologyBMC Evolutionary Biology
- 2007
It is concluded that RNase MRP can now be placed in the RNA-processing cascade of the Eukaryotic Ancestor, highlighting the complexity of RNA- processing in early eukaryotes.
An Overview of the Introns-First Theory
- BiologyJournal of Molecular Evolution
- 2009
There is strong evidence against introns being uncommon in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA), and expanding only within extant eUKaryotic groups—the ‘very-late’ intron invasion model.
The Universal Tree of Life: From Simple to Complex or From Complex to Simple
- Biology
- 2005
The predominant view of the universal tree of life (often called the tree of Woese) is presented and the main conclusions about the ancient evolution, which were deduced from it in the early 1990s are presented.
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 66 REFERENCES
Relics from the RNA World
- BiologyJournal of Molecular Evolution
- 1998
The model as developed serves as an outgroup to root the tree of life and is an alternative to using sequence data for inferring properties of the earliest cells.
The Path from the RNA World
- BiologyJournal of Molecular Evolution
- 1998
A sequential (step by step) Darwinian model for the evolution of life from the late stages of the RNA world through to the emergence of eukaryotes and prokaryotes, with a functional explanation that proKaryote ancestors underwent selection for thermophily and/or for rapid reproduction at least once in their history.
Archaea sister group of Bacteria? Indications from tree reconstruction artifacts in ancient phylogenies.
- BiologyMolecular biology and evolution
- 1999
A eukaryotic rooting provides a simple explanation for the high similarity of Archaea and Bacteria observed in complete-genome analysis, and should prompt a reconsideration of current views on the origin of eukARYotes.
The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Prebiotic Chemistry, the Pre-RNA World, and Time
- BiologyCell
- 1996
Phylogeny from function: evidence from the molecular fossil record that tRNA originated in replication, not translation.
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 1994
This phylogeny is unique in suggesting that the function of tRNA in replication dates back to the very beginnings of life on earth, before the advent of templated protein synthesis.
Towards a natural system of organisms: proposal for the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya.
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 1990
It is proposed that a formal system of organisms be established in which above the level of kingdom there exists a new taxon called a "domain." Life on this planet would be seen as comprising three domains, the Bacteria, the Archaea, and the Eucarya, each containing two or more kingdoms.
Thermoreduction, a hypothesis for the origin of prokaryotes.
- BiologyComptes rendus de l'Academie des sciences. Serie III, Sciences de la vie
- 1995
2 new hypotheses are proposed to explain the correlation between the procaryotic phenotype and thermophilic life without reference to a putative hot origin of life, suggesting that today prokaryotes might have originated from mesophilic ancestors via reductive evolution, in the process of adaptation to thermophily.
Evolutionary relationship of archaebacteria, eubacteria, and eukaryotes inferred from phylogenetic trees of duplicated genes.
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 1989
A composite phylogenetic tree with two clusters corresponding to different proteins, from which the evolutionary relationship of the primary kingdoms is determined uniquely is proposed, revealing that archaebacteria are more closely related to eukaryotes than to eubacteria for all the cases.
Evidence that eukaryotes and eocyte prokaryotes are immediate relatives.
- BiologyScience
- 1992
The eocytes are the closest surviving relatives (sister taxon) of the eukaryotes, and the related (paralogous) genes encoding elongation factor EF-2 and initiation factor IF-2 also lacked the 11-amino acid insert.