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Uppal S, Salhotra S, Mukhi N, Zaidi FK, Seal M, Dey SG, Bhat R, Kundu S. Significantly enhanced heme retention ability of myoglobin engineered to mimic the third covalent linkage by nonaxial histidine to heme (vinyl) in synechocystis hemoglobin. J Biol Chem 2014; 290:1979-93. [PMID: 25451928 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m114.603225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Heme proteins, which reversibly bind oxygen and display a particular fold originally identified in myoglobin (Mb), characterize the "hemoglobin (Hb) superfamily." The long known and widely investigated Hb superfamily, however, has been enriched by the discovery and investigation of new classes and members. Truncated Hbs typify such novel classes and exhibit a distinct two-on-two α-helical fold. The truncated Hb from the freshwater cyanobacterium Synechocystis exhibits hexacoordinate heme chemistry and bears an unusual covalent bond between the nonaxial His(117) and a heme porphyrin 2-vinyl atom, which remains tightly associated with the globin unlike any other. It seems to be the most stable Hb known to date, and His(117) is the dominant force holding the heme. Mutations of amino acid residues in the vicinity did not influence this covalent linkage. Introduction of a nonaxial His into sperm whale Mb at the topologically equivalent position and in close proximity to vinyl group significantly increased the heme stability of this prototype globin. Reversed phase chromatography, electrospray ionization-MS, and MALDI-TOF analyses confirmed the presence of covalent linkage in Mb I107H. The Mb mutant with the engineered covalent linkage was stable to denaturants and exhibited ligand binding and auto-oxidation rates similar to the wild type protein. This indeed is a novel finding and provides a new perspective to the evolution of Hbs. The successful attempt at engineering heme stability holds promise for the production of stable Hb-based blood substitute.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheetal Uppal
- From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India
| | - Shikha Salhotra
- From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India
| | - Nitika Mukhi
- From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India
| | - Fatima Kamal Zaidi
- the School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India, and
| | - Manas Seal
- the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, India
| | - Somdatta Ghosh Dey
- the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, India
| | - Rajiv Bhat
- the School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India, and
| | - Suman Kundu
- From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India,
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Armenta-Medina D, Segovia L, Perez-Rueda E. Comparative genomics of nucleotide metabolism: a tour to the past of the three cellular domains of life. BMC Genomics 2014; 15:800. [PMID: 25230797 PMCID: PMC4177761 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2014] [Accepted: 09/15/2014] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nucleotide metabolism is central to all biological systems, due to their essential role in genetic information and energy transfer, which in turn suggests its possible presence in the last common ancestor (LCA) of Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. In this context, elucidation of the contribution of the origin and diversification of de novo and salvage pathways of nucleotide metabolism will allow us to understand the links between the enzymatic steps associated with the LCA and the emergence of the first metabolic pathways. RESULTS In this work, the taxonomical distribution of the enzymes associated with nucleotide metabolism was evaluated in 1,606 complete genomes. 151 sequence profiles associated with 120 enzymatic reactions were used. The evaluation was based on profile comparisons, using RPS-Blast. Organisms were clustered based on their taxonomical classifications, in order to obtain a normalized measure of the taxonomical distribution of enzymes according to the average of presence/absence of enzymes per genus, which in turn was used for the second step, to calculate the average presence/absence of enzymes per Clade. CONCLUSION From these analyses, it was suggested that divergence at the enzymatic level correlates with environmental changes and related modifications of the cell wall and membranes that took place during cell evolution. Specifically, the divergence of the 5-(carboxyamino) imidazole ribonucleotide mutase to phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase could be related to the emergence of multicellularity in eukaryotic cells. In addition, segments of salvage and de novo pathways were probably complementary in the LCA to the synthesis of purines and pyrimidines. We also suggest that a large portion of the pathway to inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) in purines could have been involved in thiamine synthesis or its derivatives in early stages of cellular evolution, correlating with the fact that these molecules may have played an active role in the protein-RNA world. The analysis presented here provides general observations concerning the adaptation of the enzymatic steps in the early stages of the emergence of life and the LCA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dagoberto Armenta-Medina
- Departamento de Ingeniería Celular y Biocatálisis, Instituto de Biotecnología, UNAM Av, Universidad 2001, Cuernavaca, Morelos CP 62210, México.
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Cavalier-Smith T. The neomuran revolution and phagotrophic origin of eukaryotes and cilia in the light of intracellular coevolution and a revised tree of life. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2014; 6:a016006. [PMID: 25183828 PMCID: PMC4142966 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a016006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Three kinds of cells exist with increasingly complex membrane-protein targeting: Unibacteria (Archaebacteria, Posibacteria) with one cytoplasmic membrane (CM); Negibacteria with a two-membrane envelope (inner CM; outer membrane [OM]); eukaryotes with a plasma membrane and topologically distinct endomembranes and peroxisomes. I combine evidence from multigene trees, palaeontology, and cell biology to show that eukaryotes and archaebacteria are sisters, forming the clade neomura that evolved ~1.2 Gy ago from a posibacterium, whose DNA segregation and cell division were destabilized by murein wall loss and rescued by the evolving novel neomuran endoskeleton, histones, cytokinesis, and glycoproteins. Phagotrophy then induced coevolving serial major changes making eukaryote cells, culminating in two dissimilar cilia via a novel gliding-fishing-swimming scenario. I transfer Chloroflexi to Posibacteria, root the universal tree between them and Heliobacteria, and argue that Negibacteria are a clade whose OM, evolving in a green posibacterium, was never lost.
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Ford RC, Holzenburg A. Organization of protein complexes and a mechanism for grana formation in photosynthetic membranes as revealed by cryo-electron microscopy. CRYSTAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1002/crat.201300116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R. C. Ford
- Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre, Faculty of Life Sciences; The University of Manchester; Manchester M13 9PT UK
| | - A. Holzenburg
- Microscopy and Imaging Center, Department of Biology, and Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics; Texas A&M University; College Station, TX 77843-2257 USA
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Wopereis H, Oozeer R, Knipping K, Belzer C, Knol J. The first thousand days - intestinal microbiology of early life: establishing a symbiosis. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2014; 25:428-38. [PMID: 24899389 DOI: 10.1111/pai.12232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 205] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/28/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The development of the intestinal microbiota in the first years of life is a dynamic process significantly influenced by early-life nutrition. Pioneer bacteria colonizing the infant intestinal tract and the gradual diversification to a stable climax ecosystem plays a crucial role in establishing host-microbe interactions essential for optimal symbiosis. This colonization process and establishment of symbiosis may profoundly influence health throughout life. Recent developments in microbiologic cultivation-independent methods allow a detailed view of the key players and factors involved in this process and may further elucidate their roles in a healthy gut and immune maturation. Aberrant patterns may lead to identifying key microbial signatures involved in developing immunologic diseases into adulthood, such as asthma and atopic diseases. The central role of early-life nutrition in the developmental human microbiota, immunity, and metabolism offers promising strategies for prevention and treatment of such diseases. This review provides an overview of the development of the intestinal microbiota, its bidirectional relationship with the immune system, and its role in impacting health and disease, with emphasis on allergy, in early life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harm Wopereis
- Nutricia Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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56
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Evolutionary mechanisms for establishing eukaryotic cellular complexity. Trends Cell Biol 2014; 24:435-42. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2014.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2013] [Revised: 02/14/2014] [Accepted: 02/18/2014] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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Antcliffe JB, Callow RHT, Brasier MD. Giving the early fossil record of sponges a squeeze. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2014; 89:972-1004. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2012] [Revised: 01/16/2014] [Accepted: 01/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan B. Antcliffe
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; South Parks Road Oxford OX1 3PS U.K
- Department of Earth Sciences; University of Bristol; Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road Bristol BS81RJ U.K
| | - Richard H. T. Callow
- Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology; School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen; Meston Building Aberdeen AB24 3UE U.K
| | - Martin D. Brasier
- Department of Earth Sciences; Oxford University; Parks Road Oxford OX13PR U.K
- Department of Earth Sciences; Memorial University of Newfoundland; 300 Prince Philip Drive St John's A1B 3X5 Canada
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Koumandou VL, Wickstead B, Ginger ML, van der Giezen M, Dacks JB, Field MC. Molecular paleontology and complexity in the last eukaryotic common ancestor. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol 2014; 48:373-96. [PMID: 23895660 PMCID: PMC3791482 DOI: 10.3109/10409238.2013.821444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Eukaryogenesis, the origin of the eukaryotic cell, represents one of the fundamental evolutionary transitions in the history of life on earth. This event, which is estimated to have occurred over one billion years ago, remains rather poorly understood. While some well-validated examples of fossil microbial eukaryotes for this time frame have been described, these can provide only basic morphology and the molecular machinery present in these organisms has remained unknown. Complete and partial genomic information has begun to fill this gap, and is being used to trace proteins and cellular traits to their roots and to provide unprecedented levels of resolution of structures, metabolic pathways and capabilities of organisms at these earliest points within the eukaryotic lineage. This is essentially allowing a molecular paleontology. What has emerged from these studies is spectacular cellular complexity prior to expansion of the eukaryotic lineages. Multiple reconstructed cellular systems indicate a very sophisticated biology, which by implication arose following the initial eukaryogenesis event but prior to eukaryotic radiation and provides a challenge in terms of explaining how these early eukaryotes arose and in understanding how they lived. Here, we provide brief overviews of several cellular systems and the major emerging conclusions, together with predictions for subsequent directions in evolution leading to extant taxa. We also consider what these reconstructions suggest about the life styles and capabilities of these earliest eukaryotes and the period of evolution between the radiation of eukaryotes and the eukaryogenesis event itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Lila Koumandou
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Soranou Efesiou 4, Athens 115 27, Greece
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Cavalier-Smith T. Symbiogenesis: Mechanisms, Evolutionary Consequences, and Systematic Implications. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2013. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110411-160320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Primary endosymbiosis events date to the later Proterozoic with cross-calibrated phylogenetic dating of duplicated ATPase proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013; 110:12355-60. [PMID: 23776247 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1305813110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Chloroplasts and mitochondria descended from bacterial ancestors, but the dating of these primary endosymbiosis events remains very uncertain, despite their importance for our understanding of the evolution of both bacteria and eukaryotes. All phylogenetic dating in the Proterozoic and before is difficult: Significant debates surround potential fossil calibration points based on the interpretation of the Precambrian microbial fossil record, and strict molecular clock methods cannot be expected to yield accurate dates over such vast timescales because of strong heterogeneity in rates. Even with more sophisticated relaxed-clock analyses, nodes that are distant from fossil calibrations will have a very high uncertainty in dating. However, endosymbiosis events and gene duplications provide some additional information that has never been exploited in dating; namely, that certain nodes on a gene tree must represent the same events, and thus must have the same or very similar dates, even if the exact date is uncertain. We devised techniques to exploit this information: cross-calibration, in which node date calibrations are reused across a phylogeny, and cross-bracing, in which node date calibrations are formally linked in a hierarchical Bayesian model. We apply these methods to proteins with ancient duplications that have remained associated and originated from plastid and mitochondrial endosymbionts: the α and β subunits of ATP synthase and its relatives, and the elongation factor thermo unstable. The methods yield reductions in dating uncertainty of 14-26% while only using date calibrations derived from phylogenetically unambiguous Phanerozoic fossils of multicellular plants and animals. Our results suggest that primary plastid endosymbiosis occurred ∼900 Mya and mitochondrial endosymbiosis occurred ∼1,200 Mya.
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Narula K, Datta A, Chakraborty N, Chakraborty S. Comparative analyses of nuclear proteome: extending its function. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2013; 4:100. [PMID: 23637696 PMCID: PMC3636469 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2013.00100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2013] [Accepted: 03/30/2013] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Organeller proteomics is an emerging technology that is critical in determining the cellular signal transduction pathways. Nucleus, the regulatory hub of the eukaryotic cell is a dynamic system and a repository of various macromolecules that serve as modulators of such signaling that dictate cell fate decisions. Nuclear proteins (NPs) are predicted to comprise about 10-20% of the total cellular proteins, suggesting the involvement of the nucleus in a number of diverse functions. Indeed, NPs constitute a highly organized but complex network that plays diverse roles during development and physiological processes. In plants, relatively little is known about the nature of the molecular components and mechanisms involved in coordinating NP synthesis, their action and function. Proteomic study hold promise to understand the molecular basis of nuclear function using an unbiased comparative and differential approach. We identified a few hundred proteins that include classical and non-canonical nuclear components presumably associated with variety of cellular functions impinging on the complexity of nuclear proteome. Here, we review the nuclear proteome based on our own findings, available literature, and databases focusing on detailed comparative analysis of NPs and their functions in order to understand how plant nucleus works. The review also shed light on the current status of plant nuclear proteome and discusses the future prospect.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Subhra Chakraborty
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali MargNew Delhi, India
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Nelson DR, Goldstone JV, Stegeman JJ. The cytochrome P450 genesis locus: the origin and evolution of animal cytochrome P450s. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 368:20120474. [PMID: 23297357 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The neighbourhoods of cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes in deuterostome genomes, as well as those of the cnidarians Nematostella vectensis and Acropora digitifera and the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens were examined to find clues concerning the evolution of CYP genes in animals. CYP genes created by the 2R whole genome duplications in chordates have been identified. Both microsynteny and macrosynteny were used to identify genes that coexisted near CYP genes in the animal ancestor. We show that all 11 CYP clans began in a common gene environment. The evidence implies the existence of a single locus, which we term the 'cytochrome P450 genesis locus', where one progenitor CYP gene duplicated to create a tandem set of genes that were precursors of the 11 animal CYP clans: CYP Clans 2, 3, 4, 7, 19, 20, 26, 46, 51, 74 and mitochondrial. These early CYP genes existed side by side before the origin of cnidarians, possibly with a few additional genes interspersed. The Hox gene cluster, WNT genes, an NK gene cluster and at least one ARF gene were close neighbours to this original CYP locus. According to this evolutionary scenario, the CYP74 clan originated from animals and not from land plants nor from a common ancestor of plants and animals. The CYP7 and CYP19 families that are chordate-specific belong to CYP clans that seem to have originated in the CYP genesis locus as well, even though this requires many gene losses to explain their current distribution. The approach to uncovering the CYP genesis locus overcomes confounding effects because of gene conversion, sequence divergence, gene birth and death, and opens the way to understanding the biodiversity of CYP genes, families and subfamilies, which in animals has been obscured by more than 600 Myr of evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Nelson
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 858 Madison Avenue Suite G01, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
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63
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Abstract
The world we live in is a biosphere influenced by all organisms who inhabit it. It is also an ecology of genes, with some having rather startling effects. The premise put forth in this issue is cytochrome P450 is a significant player in the world around us. Life and the Earth itself would be visibly different and diminished without cytochrome P450s. The contributions to this issue range from evolution on the billion year scale to the colour of roses, from Darwin to Rachel Carson; all as seen through the lens of cytochrome P450.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Nelson
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 858 Madison Avenue Suite G01, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
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Ludueña RF. A Hypothesis on the Origin and Evolution of Tubulin. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2013; 302:41-185. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-407699-0.00002-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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Abstract
Living matter is the most elaborate, elegant, and complex hierarchical material known and is consequently the natural target for an ever-expanding scientific and technological effort to unlock and deconvolute its marvelous forms and functions. Our current understanding suggests that biological materials are derived from a bottom-up process, a spontaneous emergence of molecular networks in the course of chemical evolution. Polymer cooperation, so beautifully manifested in the ribosome, appeared in these dynamic networks, and the special physicochemical properties of the nucleic and amino acid polymers made possible the critical threshold for the emergence of extant cellular life. These properties include the precise and geometrically discrete hydrogen bonding patterns that dominate the complementary interactions of nucleic acid base-pairing that guide replication and ensure replication fidelity. In contrast, complex and highly context-dependent sets of intra- and intermolecular interactions guide protein folding. These diverse interactions allow the more analog environmental chemical potential fluctuations to dictate conformational template-directed propagation. When these two different strategies converged in the remarkable synergistic ribonucleoprotein that is the ribosome, this resulting molecular digital-to-analog converter achieved the capacity for both persistent information storage and adaptive responses to an ever-changing environment. The ancestral chemical networks that preceded the Central Dogma of Earth's biology must reflect the dynamic chemical evolutionary landscapes that allowed for selection, propagation, and diversification and ultimately the demarcation and specialization of function that modern biopolymers manifest. Not only should modern biopolymers contain molecular fossils of this earlier age, but it should be possible to use this information to reinvent these dynamic functional networks. In this Account, we review the first dynamic network created by modification of a nucleic acid backbone and show how it has exploited the digital-like base pairing for reversible polymer construction and information transfer. We further review how these lessons have been extended to the complex folding landscapes of templated peptide assembly. These insights have allowed for the construction of molecular hybrids of each biopolymer class and made possible the reimagining of chemical evolution. Such elaboration of biopolymer chimeras has already led to applications in therapeutics and diagnostics, to the construction of novel nanostructured materials, and toward orthogonal biochemical pathways that expand the evolution of existing biochemical systems. The ability to look beyond the primordial emergence of the ribosome may allow us to better define the origins of chemical evolution, to extend its horizons beyond the biology of today and ask whether evolution is an inherent property of matter unbounded by physical limitations imposed by our planet's diverse environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay T. Goodwin
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution, NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
| | - Anil K. Mehta
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution, NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
| | - David G. Lynn
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution, NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
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Early evolution of eukaryote feeding modes, cell structural diversity, and classification of the protozoan phyla Loukozoa, Sulcozoa, and Choanozoa. Eur J Protistol 2012; 49:115-78. [PMID: 23085100 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2012.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2012] [Revised: 06/21/2012] [Accepted: 06/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
I discuss how different feeding modes and related cellular structures map onto the eukaryote evolutionary tree. Centrally important for understanding eukaryotic cell diversity are Loukozoa: ancestrally biciliate phagotrophic protozoa possessing a posterior cilium and ventral feeding groove into which ciliary currents direct prey. I revise their classification by including all anaerobic Metamonada as a subphylum and adding Tsukubamonas. Loukozoa, often with ciliary vanes, are probably ancestral to all protozoan phyla except Euglenozoa and Percolozoa and indirectly to kingdoms Animalia, Fungi, Plantae, and Chromista. I make a new protozoan phylum Sulcozoa comprising subphyla Apusozoa (Apusomonadida, Breviatea) and Varisulca (Diphyllatea; Planomonadida, Discocelida, Mantamonadida; Rigifilida). Understanding sulcozoan evolution clarifies the origins from them of opisthokonts (animals, fungi, Choanozoa) and Amoebozoa, and their evolutionary novelties; Sulcozoa and their descendants (collectively called podiates) arguably arose from Loukozoa by evolving posterior ciliary gliding and pseudopodia in their ventral groove. I explain subsequent independent cytoskeletal modifications, accompanying further shifts in feeding mode, that generated Amoebozoa, Choanozoa, and fungi. I revise classifications of Choanozoa, Conosa (Amoebozoa), and basal fungal phylum Archemycota. I use Choanozoa, Sulcozoa, Loukozoa, and Archemycota to emphasize the need for simply classifying ancestral (paraphyletic) groups and illustrate advantages of this for understanding step-wise phylogenetic advances.
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Crossin KL. Oxygen levels and the regulation of cell adhesion in the nervous system: a control point for morphogenesis in development, disease and evolution? Cell Adh Migr 2012; 6:49-58. [PMID: 22647940 DOI: 10.4161/cam.19582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In this article, I discuss the hallmarks of hypoxia in vitro and in vivo and review work showing that many types of stem cell proliferate more robustly in lowered oxygen. I then discuss recent studies showing that alterations in the levels and the types of cell and substrate adhesion molecules are a notable response to reduced O(2) levels in both cultured primary neural stem cells and brain tissues in response to hypoxia in vivo. The ability of O(2) levels to regulate adhesion molecule expression is linked to the Wnt signaling pathway, which can control and be controlled by adhesion events. The ability of O(2) levels to influence cell adhesion also has far-reaching implications for development, ischemic trauma and neural regeneration, as well as for cancer and other diseases. Finally I discuss the possibility that the fluctuations in O(2) levels known to have occurred over evolutionary time could, by influencing adhesion systems, have contributed to early symbiotic events in unicellular organisms and to the emergence of multicellularity. It is not my intention to be exhaustive in these domains, which are far from my own field of study. Rather this article is meant to provoke and stimulate thinking about molecular evolution involving O(2) sensing and signaling during eras of geologic and atmospheric change that might inform modern studies on development and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn L Crossin
- Department of Neurobiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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van Lis R, Nitschke W, Duval S, Schoepp-Cothenet B. Arsenics as bioenergetic substrates. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2012; 1827:176-88. [PMID: 22982475 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2012] [Revised: 08/28/2012] [Accepted: 08/31/2012] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Although at low concentrations, arsenic commonly occurs naturally as a local geological constituent. Whereas both arsenate and arsenite are strongly toxic to life, a number of prokaryotes use these compounds as electron acceptors or donors, respectively, for bioenergetic purposes via respiratory arsenate reductase, arsenite oxidase and alternative arsenite oxidase. The recent burst in discovered arsenite oxidizing and arsenate respiring microbes suggests the arsenic bioenergetic metabolisms to be anything but exotic. The first goal of the present review is to bring to light the widespread distribution and diversity of these metabolizing pathways. The second goal is to present an evolutionary analysis of these diverse energetic pathways. Taking into account not only the available data on the arsenic metabolizing enzymes and their phylogenetical relatives but also the palaeogeochemical records, we propose a crucial role of arsenite oxidation via arsenite oxidase in primordial life. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: The evolutionary aspects of bioenergetic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert van Lis
- Laboratoire de Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines UMR 7281 CNRS/AMU, FR3479, F-13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France
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Gómez F. A quantitative review of the lifestyle, habitat and trophic diversity of dinoflagellates (Dinoflagellata, Alveolata). SYST BIODIVERS 2012. [DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2012.721021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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For quite a few chromosomes more: the origin of eukaryotes…. J Mol Biol 2012; 423:135-42. [PMID: 22796299 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2012.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2012] [Revised: 07/01/2012] [Accepted: 07/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of eukaryotes addresses an enigmatic question: what are the evolutionary advantages of having a nucleus? The nucleus is traditionally thought to act as protection for DNA, but eukaryotes are more fragile than bacteria. The compartmentalization of the eukaryotic cell might stem from invaginations of the plasma membrane, and I argue that this autogenous origin of the nucleus constituted a selective innovation caused by cellular constraints due to a large genome. The protoeukaryotic nucleus appears to be a physical and chemical solution to the problem of large amounts of DNA in the form of many linear chromosomes. The selective advantages of having a nuclear envelope are to house a large genome in a stabilized structure and to decouple gene translation from transcription. Supporting the karyogenic model, this new hypothesis opens an original perspective to help in understanding the very ancient origin of eukaryotes.
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Pade N, Compaoré J, Klähn S, Stal LJ, Hagemann M. The marine cyanobacterium Crocosphaera watsonii WH8501 synthesizes the compatible solute trehalose by a laterally acquired OtsAB fusion protein. Environ Microbiol 2012; 14:1261-71. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02709.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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73
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Abstract
This review covers the literature on the chemically mediated ecology of cyanobacteria, including ultraviolet radiation protection, feeding-deterrence, allelopathy, resource competition, and signalling. To highlight the chemical and biological diversity of this group of organisms, evolutionary and chemotaxonomical studies are presented. Several technologically relevant aspects of cyanobacterial chemical ecology are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro N Leão
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Center for Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal.
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74
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Evolution of plant nucleotide-sugar interconversion enzymes. PLoS One 2011; 6:e27995. [PMID: 22125650 PMCID: PMC3220709 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2011] [Accepted: 10/29/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Nucleotide-diphospho-sugars (NDP-sugars) are the building blocks of diverse polysaccharides and glycoconjugates in all organisms. In plants, 11 families of NDP-sugar interconversion enzymes (NSEs) have been identified, each of which interconverts one NDP-sugar to another. While the functions of these enzyme families have been characterized in various plants, very little is known about their evolution and origin. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that all the 11 plant NSE families are distantly related and most of them originated from different progenitor genes, which have already diverged in ancient prokaryotes. For instance, all NSE families are found in the lower land plant mosses and most of them are also found in aquatic algae, implicating that they have already evolved to be capable of synthesizing all the 11 different NDP-sugars. Particularly interesting is that the evolution of RHM (UDP-L-rhamnose synthase) manifests the fusion of genes of three enzymatic activities in early eukaryotes in a rather intriguing manner. The plant NRS/ER (nucleotide-rhamnose synthase/epimerase-reductase), on the other hand, evolved much later from the ancient plant RHMs through losing the N-terminal domain. Based on these findings, an evolutionary model is proposed to explain the origin and evolution of different NSE families. For instance, the UGlcAE (UDP-D-glucuronic acid 4-epimerase) family is suggested to have evolved from some chlamydial bacteria. Our data also show considerably higher sequence diversity among NSE-like genes in modern prokaryotes, consistent with the higher sugar diversity found in prokaryotes. All the NSE families are widely found in plants and algae containing carbohydrate-rich cell walls, while sporadically found in animals, fungi and other eukaryotes, which do not have or have cell walls with distinct compositions. Results of this study were shown to be highly useful for identifying unknown genes for further experimental characterization to determine their functions in the synthesis of diverse glycosylated molecules.
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Abstract
The cytoskeleton is a system of intracellular filaments crucial for cell shape, division, and function in all three domains of life. The simple cytoskeletons of prokaryotes show surprising plasticity in composition, with none of the core filament-forming proteins conserved in all lineages. In contrast, eukaryotic cytoskeletal function has been hugely elaborated by the addition of accessory proteins and extensive gene duplication and specialization. Much of this complexity evolved before the last common ancestor of eukaryotes. The distribution of cytoskeletal filaments puts constraints on the likely prokaryotic line that made this leap of eukaryogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bill Wickstead
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, England, UK.
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76
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Cardona T, Sedoud A, Cox N, Rutherford AW. Charge separation in photosystem II: a comparative and evolutionary overview. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2011; 1817:26-43. [PMID: 21835158 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2011.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 245] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2011] [Revised: 07/22/2011] [Accepted: 07/23/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Our current understanding of the PSII reaction centre owes a great deal to comparisons to the simpler and better understood, purple bacterial reaction centre. Here we provide an overview of the similarities with a focus on charge separation and the electron acceptors. We go on to discuss some of the main differences between the two kinds of reaction centres that have been highlighted by the improving knowledge of PSII. We attempt to relate these differences to functional requirements of water splitting. Some are directly associated with that function, e.g. high oxidation potentials, while others are associated with regulation and protection against photodamage. The protective and regulatory functions are associated with the harsh chemistry performed during its normal function but also with requirements of the enzyme while it is undergoing assembly and repair. Key aspects of PSII reaction centre evolution are also addressed. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Photosystem II.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanai Cardona
- Institut de Biologie et Technologies de Saclay, URA 2096 CNRS, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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77
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Da Lage JL, Maczkowiak F, Cariou ML. Phylogenetic distribution of intron positions in alpha-amylase genes of bilateria suggests numerous gains and losses. PLoS One 2011; 6:e19673. [PMID: 21611157 PMCID: PMC3096672 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2010] [Accepted: 04/03/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Most eukaryotes have at least some genes interrupted by introns. While it is well accepted that introns were already present at moderate density in the last eukaryote common ancestor, the conspicuous diversity of intron density among genomes suggests a complex evolutionary history, with marked differences between phyla. The question of the rates of intron gains and loss in the course of evolution and factors influencing them remains controversial. We have investigated a single gene family, alpha-amylase, in 55 species covering a variety of animal phyla. Comparison of intron positions across phyla suggests a complex history, with a likely ancestral intronless gene undergoing frequent intron loss and gain, leading to extant intron/exon structures that are highly variable, even among species from the same phylum. Because introns are known to play no regulatory role in this gene and there is no alternative splicing, the structural differences may be interpreted more easily: intron positions, sizes, losses or gains may be more likely related to factors linked to splicing mechanisms and requirements, and to recognition of introns and exons, or to more extrinsic factors, such as life cycle and population size. We have shown that intron losses outnumbered gains in recent periods, but that "resets" of intron positions occurred at the origin of several phyla, including vertebrates. Rates of gain and loss appear to be positively correlated. No phase preference was found. We also found evidence for parallel gains and for intron sliding. Presence of introns at given positions was correlated to a strong protosplice consensus sequence AG/G, which was much weaker in the absence of intron. In contrast, recent intron insertions were not associated with a specific sequence. In animal Amy genes, population size and generation time seem to have played only minor roles in shaping gene structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Luc Da Lage
- Laboratoire Evolution, génomes et spéciation, UPR 9034 CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France.
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78
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Tirichine L, Bowler C. Decoding algal genomes: tracing back the history of photosynthetic life on Earth. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2011; 66:45-57. [PMID: 21443622 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-313x.2011.04540.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The last decade has witnessed outstanding progress in sequencing the genomes of photosynthetic eukaryotes, from major cereal crops to single celled marine phytoplankton. For the algae, we now have whole genome sequences from green, red, and brown representatives, and multiple efforts based on comparative and functional genomics approaches have provided information about the unicellular origins of higher plants, and about the evolution of photosynthetic life in general. Here we present some of the highlights from such studies, including the endosymbiotic origins of photosynthetic protists and their positioning with respect to plants and animals, the evolution of multicellularity in photosynthetic lineages, the role of sex in unicellular algae, and the potential relevance of epigenetic processes in contributing to the adaptation of algae to their environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leïla Tirichine
- Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics, CNRS UMR8197 INSERM U1024, Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46 rue d'Ulm 75230 Paris Cedex 05, France
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79
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Ball S, Colleoni C, Cenci U, Raj JN, Tirtiaux C. The evolution of glycogen and starch metabolism in eukaryotes gives molecular clues to understand the establishment of plastid endosymbiosis. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2011; 62:1775-801. [PMID: 21220783 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erq411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Solid semi-crystalline starch and hydrosoluble glycogen define two distinct physical states of the same type of storage polysaccharide. Appearance of semi-crystalline storage polysaccharides appears linked to the requirement of unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacteria to fuel nitrogenase and protect it from oxygen through respiration of vast amounts of stored carbon. Starch metabolism itself resulted from the merging of the bacterial and eukaryote pathways of storage polysaccharide metabolism after endosymbiosis of the plastid. This generated the three Archaeplastida lineages: the green algae and land plants (Chloroplastida), the red algae (Rhodophyceae), and the glaucophytes (Glaucophyta). Reconstruction of starch metabolism in the common ancestor of Archaeplastida suggests that polysaccharide synthesis was ancestrally cytosolic. In addition, the synthesis of cytosolic starch from the ADP-glucose exported from the cyanobacterial symbiont possibly defined the original metabolic flux by which the cyanobiont provided photosynthate to its host. Additional evidence supporting this scenario include the monophyletic origin of the major carbon translocators of the inner membrane of eukaryote plastids which are sisters to nucleotide-sugar transporters of the eukaryote endomembrane system. It also includes the extent of enzyme subfunctionalization that came as a consequence of the rewiring of this pathway to the chloroplasts in the green algae. Recent evidence suggests that, at the time of endosymbiosis, obligate intracellular energy parasites related to extant Chlamydia have donated important genes to the ancestral starch metabolism network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Ball
- Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, UMR 8576 CNRS-USTL, Bâtiment C9, Cité Scientifique, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
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80
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The origin of a derived superkingdom: how a gram-positive bacterium crossed the desert to become an archaeon. Biol Direct 2011; 6:16. [PMID: 21356104 PMCID: PMC3056875 DOI: 10.1186/1745-6150-6-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2010] [Accepted: 02/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The tree of life is usually rooted between archaea and bacteria. We have previously presented three arguments that support placing the root of the tree of life in bacteria. The data have been dismissed because those who support the canonical rooting between the prokaryotic superkingdoms cannot imagine how the vast divide between the prokaryotic superkingdoms could be crossed. RESULTS We review the evidence that archaea are derived, as well as their biggest differences with bacteria. We argue that using novel data the gap between the superkingdoms is not insurmountable. We consider whether archaea are holophyletic or paraphyletic; essential to understanding their origin. Finally, we review several hypotheses on the origins of archaea and, where possible, evaluate each hypothesis using bioinformatics tools. As a result we argue for a firmicute ancestry for archaea over proposals for an actinobacterial ancestry. CONCLUSION We believe a synthesis of the hypotheses of Lake, Gupta, and Cavalier-Smith is possible where a combination of antibiotic warfare and viral endosymbiosis in the bacilli led to dramatic changes in a bacterium that resulted in the birth of archaea and eukaryotes. REVIEWERS This article was reviewed by Patrick Forterre, Eugene Koonin, and Gáspár Jékely.
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81
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Abstract
Energy conversion of sunlight by photosynthetic organisms has changed Earth and life on it. Photosynthesis arose early in Earth's history, and the earliest forms of photosynthetic life were almost certainly anoxygenic (non-oxygen evolving). The invention of oxygenic photosynthesis and the subsequent rise of atmospheric oxygen approximately 2.4 billion years ago revolutionized the energetic and enzymatic fundamentals of life. The repercussions of this revolution are manifested in novel biosynthetic pathways of photosynthetic cofactors and the modification of electron carriers, pigments, and existing and alternative modes of photosynthetic carbon fixation. The evolutionary history of photosynthetic organisms is further complicated by lateral gene transfer that involved photosynthetic components as well as by endosymbiotic events. An expanding wealth of genetic information, together with biochemical, biophysical, and physiological data, reveals a mosaic of photosynthetic features. In combination, these data provide an increasingly robust framework to formulate and evaluate hypotheses concerning the origin and evolution of photosynthesis.
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84
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Lindsey JS, Chandrashaker V, Taniguchi M, Ptaszek M. Abiotic formation of uroporphyrinogen and coproporphyrinogen from acyclic reactants. NEW J CHEM 2011. [DOI: 10.1039/c0nj00716a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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85
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Samol I, Rossig C, Buhr F, Springer A, Pollmann S, Lahroussi A, von Wettstein D, Reinbothe C, Reinbothe S. The Outer Chloroplast Envelope Protein OEP16-1 for Plastid Import of NADPH:Protochlorophyllide Oxidoreductase A in Arabidopsis thaliana. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010; 52:96-111. [DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pcq177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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86
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Fournier GP, Dick AA, Williams D, Gogarten JP. Evolution of the Archaea: emerging views on origins and phylogeny. Res Microbiol 2010; 162:92-8. [PMID: 21034818 DOI: 10.1016/j.resmic.2010.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2010] [Accepted: 09/10/2010] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Of the three domains of life, the Archaea are the most recently discovered and, from the perspective of systematics, perhaps the least understood. More than three decades after their discovery, there is still no overwhelming consensus as to their phylogenetic status, with diverse evidence supporting in varying degrees their monophyly, paraphyly, or even polyphyly. As a further complication, their evolutionary history is inextricably linked to the origin of Eukarya, one of the most challenging problems in evolutionary biology. This exclusive relationship between the eukaryal nucleocytoplasm and the Archaea is further supported by a new methodology for rooting the ribosomal Tree of Life based on amino acid composition. Novel approaches such as utilizing horizontal gene transfers as synchronizing events and branch length analysis of deep paralogs will help to clarify temporal relationships between these lineages, and may prove useful in evaluating the numerous conflicting hypotheses related to the evolution of the Archaea and Eukarya.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory P Fournier
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
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87
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Quigg A, Irwin AJ, Finkel ZV. Evolutionary inheritance of elemental stoichiometry in phytoplankton. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:526-34. [PMID: 20826483 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The elemental composition of phytoplankton is a fusion of the evolutionary history of the host and plastid, resulting in differences in genetic constraints and selection pressures associated with environmental conditions. The evolutionary inheritance hypothesis predicts similarities in elemental composition within related taxonomic lineages of phytoplankton. To test this hypothesis, we measured the elemental composition (C, N, P, S, K, Mg, Ca, Sr, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Co, Cd and Mo) of 14 phytoplankton species and combined these with published data from 15 more species from both marine and freshwater environments grown under nutrient-replete conditions. The largest differences in the elemental profiles of the species distinguish between the prokaryotic Cyanophyta and primary endosymbiotic events that resulted in the green and red plastid lineages. Smaller differences in trace element stoichiometry within the red and green plastid lineages are consistent with changes in trace elemental stoichiometry owing to the processes associated with secondary endosymbioses and inheritance by descent with modification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonietta Quigg
- Department of Marine Biology, Texas A and M University at Galveston, , 200 Seawolf Parkway, Galveston, TX 77553, USA.
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88
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Ginsburg S, Jablonka E. The evolution of associative learning: A factor in the Cambrian explosion. J Theor Biol 2010; 266:11-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2010] [Revised: 05/23/2010] [Accepted: 06/09/2010] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
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89
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Reynolds A. The redoubtable cell. STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES 2010; 41:194-201. [PMID: 20934640 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2010.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The cell theory--the thesis that all life is made up of one or more cells, the fundamental structural and physiological unit-is one of the most celebrated achievements of modern biological science. And yet from its very inception in the nineteenth century it has faced repeated criticism from some biologists. Why do some continue to criticize the cell theory, and how has it managed nevertheless to keep burying its undertakers? The answers to these questions reveal the complex nature of the cell theory and the cell concept on which it is based. Like other scientific 'laws', the assertion that all living things are made of cells purchases its universality at the expense of abstraction. If, however, this law is regarded merely as a widely applicable empirical generalization with notable exceptions, it still remains too important to discard. Debate about whether the cell or the organism standpoint provides the more correct account of anatomical, physiological, and developmental facts illustrates the tension between our attempts to express the truth about reality in conceptual terms conducive to a unified human understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Reynolds
- Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, Canada.
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90
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O'Malley MA. The first eukaryote cell: an unfinished history of contestation. STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES 2010; 41:212-224. [PMID: 20934642 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2010.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The eukaryote cell is one of the most radical innovations in the history of life, and the circumstances of its emergence are still deeply contested. This paper will outline the recent history of attempts to reveal these origins, with special attention to the argumentative strategies used to support claims about the first eukaryote cell. I will focus on two general models of eukaryogenesis: the phagotrophy model and the syntrophy model. As their labels indicate, they are based on claims about metabolic relationships. The first foregrounds the ability to consume other organisms; the second the ability to enter into symbiotic metabolic arrangements. More importantly, however, the first model argues for the autogenous or self-generated origins of the eukaryote cell, and the second for its exogenous or externally generated origins. Framing cell evolution this way leads each model to assert different priorities in regard to cell-biological versus molecular evidence, cellular versus environmental influences, plausibility versus evolutionary probability, and irreducibility versus the continuity of cell types. My examination of these issues will conclude with broader reflections on the implications of eukaryogenesis studies for a philosophical understanding of scientific contestation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen A O'Malley
- ESRC Research Centre for Genomics in Society (Egenis), University of Exeter, Byrne House, St. Germans Road, Exeter EX4 4PJ, UK. M.A.O’
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91
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Yin Y, Chen H, Hahn MG, Mohnen D, Xu Y. Evolution and function of the plant cell wall synthesis-related glycosyltransferase family 8. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2010; 153:1729-46. [PMID: 20522722 PMCID: PMC2923890 DOI: 10.1104/pp.110.154229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2010] [Accepted: 06/01/2010] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Carbohydrate-active enzyme glycosyltransferase family 8 (GT8) includes the plant galacturonosyltransferase1-related gene family of proven and putative alpha-galacturonosyltransferase (GAUT) and GAUT-like (GATL) genes. We computationally identified and investigated this family in 15 fully sequenced plant and green algal genomes and in the National Center for Biotechnology Information nonredundant protein database to determine the phylogenetic relatedness of the GAUTs and GATLs to other GT8 family members. The GT8 proteins fall into three well-delineated major classes. In addition to GAUTs and GATLs, known or predicted to be involved in plant cell wall biosynthesis, class I also includes a lower plant-specific GAUT and GATL-related (GATR) subfamily, two metazoan subfamilies, and proteins from other eukaryotes and cyanobacteria. Class II includes galactinol synthases and plant glycogenin-like starch initiation proteins that are not known to be directly involved in cell wall synthesis, as well as proteins from fungi, metazoans, viruses, and bacteria. Class III consists almost entirely of bacterial proteins that are lipooligo/polysaccharide alpha-galactosyltransferases and alpha-glucosyltransferases. Sequence motifs conserved across all GT8 subfamilies and those specific to plant cell wall-related GT8 subfamilies were identified and mapped onto a predicted GAUT1 protein structure. The tertiary structure prediction identified sequence motifs likely to represent key amino acids involved in catalysis, substrate binding, protein-protein interactions, and structural elements required for GAUT1 function. The results show that the GAUTs, GATLs, and GATRs have a different evolutionary origin than other plant GT8 genes, were likely acquired from an ancient cyanobacterium (Synechococcus) progenitor, and separate into unique subclades that may indicate functional specialization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Debra Mohnen
- Computational Systems Biology Laboratory and Institute of Bioinformatics (Y.Y., H.C., Y.X.), BioEnergy Science Center (Y.Y., M.G.H., D.M., Y.X.), Department of Plant Biology (M.G.H.), Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (M.G.H., D.M.), and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (D.M., Y.X.), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
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92
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Kulakovskaya TV, Lichko LP, Vagabov VM, Kulaev IS. Inorganic polyphosphates in mitochondria. BIOCHEMISTRY (MOSCOW) 2010; 75:825-31. [DOI: 10.1134/s0006297910070035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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93
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Dagan T, Roettger M, Bryant D, Martin W. Genome networks root the tree of life between prokaryotic domains. Genome Biol Evol 2010; 2:379-92. [PMID: 20624742 PMCID: PMC2997548 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evq025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotes arose from prokaryotes, hence the root in the tree of life resides among the prokaryotic domains. The position of the root is still debated, although pinpointing it would aid our understanding of the early evolution of life. Because prokaryote evolution was long viewed as a tree-like process of lineage bifurcations, efforts to identify the most ancient microbial lineage split have traditionally focused on positioning a root on a phylogenetic tree constructed from one or several genes. Such studies have delivered widely conflicting results on the position of the root, this being mainly due to methodological problems inherent to deep gene phylogeny and the workings of lateral gene transfer among prokaryotes over evolutionary time. Here, we report the position of the root determined with whole genome data using network-based procedures that take into account both gene presence or absence and the level of sequence similarity among all individual gene families that are shared across genomes. On the basis of 562,321 protein-coding gene families distributed across 191 genomes, we find that the deepest divide in the prokaryotic world is interdomain, that is, separating the archaebacteria from the eubacteria. This result resonates with some older views but conflicts with the results of most studies over the last decade that have addressed the issue. In particular, several studies have suggested that the molecular distinctness of archaebacteria is not evidence for their antiquity relative to eubacteria but instead stems from some kind of inherently elevated rate of archaebacterial sequence change. Here, we specifically test for such a rate elevation across all prokaryotic lineages through the analysis of all possible quartets among eight genes duplicated in all prokaryotes, hence the last common ancestor thereof. The results show that neither the archaebacteria as a group nor the eubacteria as a group harbor evidence for elevated evolutionary rates in the sampled genes, either in the recent evolutionary past or in their common ancestor. The interdomain prokaryotic position of the root is thus not attributable to lineage-specific rate variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tal Dagan
- Institute of Botany III, Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
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94
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Ohashi S, Iemura T, Okada N, Itoh S, Furukawa H, Okuda M, Ohnishi-Kameyama M, Ogawa T, Miyashita H, Watanabe T, Itoh S, Oh-oka H, Inoue K, Kobayashi M. An overview on chlorophylls and quinones in the photosystem I-type reaction centers. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2010; 104:305-19. [PMID: 20165917 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-010-9530-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2009] [Accepted: 01/16/2010] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Minor but key chlorophylls (Chls) and quinones in photosystem (PS) I-type reaction centers (RCs) are overviewed in regard to their molecular structures. In the PS I-type RCs, the prime-type chlorophylls, namely, bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) a' in green sulfur bacteria, BChl g' in heliobacteria, Chl a' in Chl a-type PS I, and Chl d' in Chl d-type PS I, function as the special pairs, either as homodimers, (BChl a')(2) and (BChl g')(2) in anoxygenic organisms, or heterodimers, Chl a/a' and Chl d/d' in oxygenic photosynthesis. Conversions of BChl g to Chl a and Chl a to Chl d take place spontaneously under mild condition in vitro. The primary electron acceptors, A (0), are Chl a-derivatives even in anoxygenic PS I-type RCs. The secondary electron acceptors are naphthoquinones, whereas the side chains may have been modified after the birth of cyanobacteria, leading to succession from menaquinone to phylloquinone in oxygenic PS I.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shunsuke Ohashi
- Institute of Materials Science, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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95
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Shcherbakov VP. Biological species is the only possible form of existence for higher organisms: the evolutionary meaning of sexual reproduction. Biol Direct 2010; 5:14. [PMID: 20307287 PMCID: PMC2847548 DOI: 10.1186/1745-6150-5-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2010] [Accepted: 03/22/2010] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Consistent holistic view of sexual species as the highest form of biological existence is presented. The Weismann's idea that sex and recombination provide the variation for the natural selection to act upon is dominated in most discussions of the biological meaning of the sexual reproduction. Here, the idea is substantiated that the main advantage of sex is the opposite: the ability to counteract not only extinction but further evolution as well. Living systems live long owing to their ability to reproduce themselves with a high fidelity. Simple organisms (like bacteria) reach the continued existence due to the high fidelity of individual genome replication. In organisms with a large genome and complex development, the achievable fidelity of DNA replication is not enough for the precise reproduction of the genome. Such species must be capable of surviving and must remain unchanged in spite of the continuous changes of their genes. This problem has no solution in the frame of asexual ("homeogenomic") lineages. They would rapidly degrade and become extinct or blurred out in the course of the reckless evolution. The core outcome of the transition to sexual reproduction was the creation of multiorganismic entity - biological species. Individual organisms forfeited their ability to reproduce autonomously. It implies that individual organisms forfeited their ability to substantive evolution. They evolve as a part of the biological species. In case of obligatory sexuality, there is no such a thing as synchronic multi-level selection. Natural selection cannot select anything that is not a unit of reproduction. Hierarchy in biology implies the functional predestination of the parts for the sake of the whole. A crucial feature of the sexual reproduction is the formation of genomes of individual organisms by random picking them over from the continuously shuffled gene pool instead of the direct replication of the ancestor's genome. A clear anti-evolutionary consequence of the sexuality is evident from the fact that the genotypes of the individuals with an enhanced competitiveness are not transmitted to the next generation. Instead, after mating with "ordinary" individuals, these genotypes scatter and rearrange in new gene combinations, thus preventing the winner from exploiting the success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor P Shcherbakov
- Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics RAS, Chernogolovka, Moscow Region, Russia.
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96
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Zachar I, Szathmáry E. A new replicator: a theoretical framework for analysing replication. BMC Biol 2010; 8:21. [PMID: 20219099 PMCID: PMC2850328 DOI: 10.1186/1741-7007-8-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2009] [Accepted: 03/10/2010] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Replicators are the crucial entities in evolution. The notion of a replicator, however, is far less exact than the weight of its importance. Without identifying and classifying multiplying entities exactly, their dynamics cannot be determined appropriately. Therefore, it is importance to decide the nature and characteristics of any multiplying entity, in a detailed and formal way. Results Replication is basically an autocatalytic process which enables us to rest on the notions of formal chemistry. This statement has major implications. Simple autocatalytic cycle intermediates are considered as non-informational replicators. A consequence of which is that any autocatalytically multiplying entity is a replicator, be it simple or overly complex (even nests). A stricter definition refers to entities which can inherit acquired changes (informational replicators). Simple autocatalytic molecules (and nests) are excluded from this group. However, in turn, any entity possessing copiable information is to be named a replicator, even multicellular organisms. In order to deal with the situation, an abstract, formal framework is presented, which allows the proper identification of various types of replicators. This sheds light on the old problem of the units and levels of selection and evolution. A hierarchical classification for the partition of the replicator-continuum is provided where specific replicators are nested within more general ones. The classification should be able to be successfully applied to known replicators and also to future candidates. Conclusion This paper redefines the concept of the replicator from a bottom-up theoretical approach. The formal definition and the abstract models presented can distinguish between among all possible replicator types, based on their quantity of variable and heritable information. This allows for the exact identification of various replicator types and their underlying dynamics. The most important claim is that replication, in general, is basically autocatalysis, with a specific defined environment and selective force. A replicator is not valid unless its working environment, and the selective force to which it is subject, is specified.
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Affiliation(s)
- István Zachar
- MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Ecology Research Group, Pázmány P sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary.
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97
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Abstract
Cyanobacteria have had a pivotal role in the history of life on Earth being the first organisms to perform oxygenic photosynthesis, which changed the atmospheric chemistry and allowed the evolution of aerobic Eukarya. Chloroplasts are the cellular organelles of photoautotrophic eukaryotes in which most portions of photosynthesis occur. Although the initial suggestion that cyanobacteria are the ancestors of chloroplasts was greeted with skepticism, the idea is now widely accepted. Here we attempt to resolve and date the cyanobacterial ancestry of the chloroplast using phylogenetic analysis and molecular clocks. We found that chloroplasts form a monophyletic lineage, are most closely related to subsection-I, N(2)-fixing unicellular cyanobacteria (Order Chroococcales), and heterocyst-forming Order Nostocales cyanobacteria are their sister group. Nostocales and Chroococcales appeared during the Paleoproterozoic and chloroplasts appeared in the mid-Proterozoic. The capability of N(2) fixation in cyanobacteria may have appeared only once during the late Archaean and early Proterozoic eons. Furthermore, we found that oxygen-evolving cyanobacteria could have appeared in the Archaean. Our results suggest that a free-living cyanobacterium with the capacity to store starch through oxygenic CO(2) fixation, and to fix atmospheric N(2), would be a very important intracellular acquisition, which, as can be recounted today from several lines of evidence, would have become the chloroplast by endosymbiosis.
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98
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Boomsma JJ. Lifetime monogamy and the evolution of eusociality. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 364:3191-207. [PMID: 19805427 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 231] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
All evidence currently available indicates that obligatory sterile eusocial castes only arose via the association of lifetime monogamous parents and offspring. This is consistent with Hamilton's rule (br(s) > r(o)c), but implies that relatedness cancels out of the equation because average relatedness to siblings (r(s)) and offspring (r(o)) are both predictably 0.5. This equality implies that any infinitesimally small benefit of helping at the maternal nest (b), relative to the cost in personal reproduction (c) that persists throughout the lifespan of entire cohorts of helpers suffices to establish permanent eusociality, so that group benefits can increase gradually during, but mostly after the transition. The monogamy window can be conceptualized as a singularity comparable with the single zygote commitment of gametes in eukaryotes. The increase of colony size in ants, bees, wasps and termites is thus analogous to the evolution of multicellularity. Focusing on lifetime monogamy as a universal precondition for the evolution of obligate eusociality simplifies the theory and may help to resolve controversies about levels of selection and targets of adaptation. The monogamy window underlines that cooperative breeding and eusociality are different domains of social evolution, characterized by different sectors of parameter space for Hamilton's rule.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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99
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Cavalier-Smith T. Origin of the cell nucleus, mitosis and sex: roles of intracellular coevolution. Biol Direct 2010; 5:7. [PMID: 20132544 PMCID: PMC2837639 DOI: 10.1186/1745-6150-5-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2009] [Accepted: 02/04/2010] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes was the most radical change in cell organisation since life began, with the largest ever burst of gene duplication and novelty. According to the coevolutionary theory of eukaryote origins, the fundamental innovations were the concerted origins of the endomembrane system and cytoskeleton, subsequently recruited to form the cell nucleus and coevolving mitotic apparatus, with numerous genetic eukaryotic novelties inevitable consequences of this compartmentation and novel DNA segregation mechanism. Physical and mutational mechanisms of origin of the nucleus are seldom considered beyond the long-standing assumption that it involved wrapping pre-existing endomembranes around chromatin. Discussions on the origin of sex typically overlook its association with protozoan entry into dormant walled cysts and the likely simultaneous coevolutionary, not sequential, origin of mitosis and meiosis. RESULTS I elucidate nuclear and mitotic coevolution, explaining the origins of dicer and small centromeric RNAs for positionally controlling centromeric heterochromatin, and how 27 major features of the cell nucleus evolved in four logical stages, making both mechanisms and selective advantages explicit: two initial stages (origin of 30 nm chromatin fibres, enabling DNA compaction; and firmer attachment of endomembranes to heterochromatin) protected DNA and nascent RNA from shearing by novel molecular motors mediating vesicle transport, division, and cytoplasmic motility. Then octagonal nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) arguably evolved from COPII coated vesicle proteins trapped in clumps by Ran GTPase-mediated cisternal fusion that generated the fenestrated nuclear envelope, preventing lethal complete cisternal fusion, and allowing passive protein and RNA exchange. Finally, plugging NPC lumens by an FG-nucleoporin meshwork and adopting karyopherins for nucleocytoplasmic exchange conferred compartmentation advantages. These successive changes took place in naked growing cells, probably as indirect consequences of the origin of phagotrophy. The first eukaryote had 1-2 cilia and also walled resting cysts; I outline how encystation may have promoted the origin of meiotic sex. I also explain why many alternative ideas are inadequate. CONCLUSION Nuclear pore complexes are evolutionary chimaeras of endomembrane- and mitosis-related chromatin-associated proteins. The keys to understanding eukaryogenesis are a proper phylogenetic context and understanding organelle coevolution: how innovations in one cell component caused repercussions on others.
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100
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Abstract
Organismal phylogeny depends on cell division, stasis, mutational divergence, cell mergers (by sex or symbiogenesis), lateral gene transfer and death. The tree of life is a useful metaphor for organismal genealogical history provided we recognize that branches sometimes fuse. Hennigian cladistics emphasizes only lineage splitting, ignoring most other major phylogenetic processes. Though methodologically useful it has been conceptually confusing and harmed taxonomy, especially in mistakenly opposing ancestral (paraphyletic) taxa. The history of life involved about 10 really major innovations in cell structure. In membrane topology, there were five successive kinds of cell: (i) negibacteria, with two bounding membranes, (ii) unibacteria, with one bounding and no internal membranes, (iii) eukaryotes with endomembranes and mitochondria, (iv) plants with chloroplasts and (v) finally, chromists with plastids inside the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Membrane chemistry divides negibacteria into the more advanced Glycobacteria (e.g. Cyanobacteria and Proteobacteria) with outer membrane lipolysaccharide and primitive Eobacteria without lipopolysaccharide (deserving intenser study). It also divides unibacteria into posibacteria, ancestors of eukaryotes, and archaebacteria-the sisters (not ancestors) of eukaryotes and the youngest bacterial phylum. Anaerobic eobacteria, oxygenic cyanobacteria, desiccation-resistant posibacteria and finally neomura (eukaryotes plus archaebacteria) successively transformed Earth. Accidents and organizational constraints are as important as adaptiveness in body plan evolution.
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