Asgard archaea are the closest prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes

Spang, Anja; Eme, Laura; Saw, Jimmy H.; Caceres, Eva F.; Zaremba‐Niedzwiedzka, Katarzyna; Lombard, Jonathan; Guy, Lionel; Ettema, Thijs J. G.

doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1007080

Cited by 118 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The core topology of the tree of life remains contentious, [2][3][4] but evidence amassed over the last decade supports the view that eukaryotes as we presently know them arose from a merger of prokaryotic cells, [5][6][7][8][9] involving an archaeal host [10][11][12] (likely from within the recently described Asgard superphylum) [13,14] and an endosymbiotic [5] bacterium (likely from a lineage within or closely related to the modern Alphaproteobacteria). [15][16][17] If this was the case, eukaryotes likely inherited their membrane lipids from their prokaryotic forebears.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why the Lipid Divide? Membrane Proteins as Drivers of the Split between the Lipids of the Three Domains of Life

Sojo

2019

BioEssays

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Recent results from engineered and natural samples show that the starkly different lipids of archaea and bacteria can form stable hybrid membranes. But if the two types can mix, why don't they? That is, why do most bacteria and all eukaryotes have only typically bacterial lipids, and archaea archaeal lipids? It is suggested here that the reason may lie on the other main component of cellular membranes: membrane proteins, and their close adaptation to the lipids. Archaeal lipids in modern bacteria could suggest that the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) had both lipid types. However, this would imply a rather elaborate evolutionary scenario, while negating simpler alternatives. In light of widespread horizontal gene transfer across the prokaryotic domains, hybrid membranes reveal that the lipid divide did not just occur once at the divergence of archaea and bacteria from LUCA. Instead, it continues to occur actively to this day. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/TdKjxoDAtsg.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why the Lipid Divide? Membrane Proteins as Drivers of the Split between the Lipids of the Three Domains of Life

Sojo

2019

BioEssays

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“…This fits with the fact that the mitochondrion is the locus of oxidative energy metabolism in most eukaryotic cells (the exceptions to this statement are anaerobic eukaryotes, which contain hydrogenosome or mitosome organelles that are clearly derived from mitochondrial ancestors) . In contrast, DNA belonging to “Asgard” group archaea comes from anaerobic sediments at the bottom of aquatic environments . So, it is highly likely that the host cell in the primordial eukaryotic endosymbiogenetic event was anaerobic.…”

Section: The Deepest Event In Known Evolutionary History Involved Celmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…The genomes of mitochondria or derived organelles are much smaller than those of contemporary Proteobacteria, and analysis of the eukaryotic sequences encoding the bulk of mitochondrial proteins establishes that hundreds of endosymbiont DNA sequences transferred to the host cell nuclear genome . Extant mitochondrial genomes encode at most 100 (and in most cases many fewer) proteins and RNAs, compared with over 850 encoded by the smallest α‐proteobacterial genome. Recent metagenomic data document the existence of the “Asgard” group of archaea that have evolved many proteins previously thought to be unique to eukaryotic cells . The genomes of these proto‐eukaryotic archaea show the closest evolutionary linkage to eukaryotic nuclear genomes among the prokaryotes and place the eukaryotic nuclear lineage as branching from archaeal origins.…”

Section: The Deepest Event In Known Evolutionary History Involved Celmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…r Recent metagenomic data m document the existence of the "Asgard" group of archaea that have evolved many proteins previously thought to be unique to eukaryotic cells. 23,24 The genomes of these proto-eukaryotic archaea show the closest evolutionary linkage to eukaryotic nuclear genomes among the prokaryotes and place the eukaryotic nuclear lineage as branching from archaeal origins. Thus, an archaeal descendant must have been the host cell for the Proteobacteria-related mitochondrial progenitor.…”

Section: The Deepest Event In Known Evolutionary History Involved Celmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25 In contrast, DNA belonging to "Asgard" group archaea comes from anaerobic sediments at the bottom of aquatic environments. 24 So, it is highly likely that the host cell in the primordial eukaryotic endosymbiogenetic event was anaerobic.…”

Section: The Deepest Event In Known Evolutionary History Involved Celmentioning

confidence: 99%

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No genome is an island: toward a 21st century agenda for evolution

Shapiro

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Conventional 20th century evolution thinking was based on the idea of isolated genomes for each species. Any possibility of life‐history inputs to the germ line was strictly excluded by Weismann's doctrine, and genome change was attributed to random copying errors. Today, we know that many life‐history events lead to rapid and nonrandom evolutionary change mediated by specific cellular functions. There are many ways that genomes, viruses, cells, and organisms interact to generate evolutionary variation. These include cell mergers and activation of natural genetic engineering by stress, infection, and interspecific hybridization. In addition, we know molecular mechanisms for transmitting life‐history information across generations through gametes. These discoveries require a new agenda for evolutionary theory and novel experimental designs to investigate the genomic impacts of stresses, biotic interactions, and sensory inputs coming from the environment. The review will offer some generic recommendations for enriching evolution experiments to incorporate new knowledge and find answers to previously excluded questions.

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Universal Tree of Life

Forterre¹,

Cunha²,

Gaïa³

2018

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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The first tree of life based on the comparison of ribosomal RNA (ribonucleic acid) allowed classifying all ribosome‐encoding organisms into three domains: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya. Phylogenomics analyses later on show that these domains probably emerged from a last universal common ancestor (LUCA) simpler than modern organisms. Different results are however still obtained regarding the relationships between Archaea and Eukarya when relying on concatenations of universal proteins. Recent analyses have revealed that the topology obtained in these studies is strongly dependent on the universal proteins and species data sets. On the basis of this observation, our recent phylogenetic analyses presently support the sisterhood of Archaea and Eukarya. Viruses, defined as virion‐encoding organisms, cannot be formally located in the tree of life but populate it entirely from its trunk to the leaves. Key Concepts Ribosome‐encoding organisms have been classified into three domains based on their 16S ribosomal RNA sequences. The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) was probably much simpler than modern organisms. The tree of life can be theoretically determined from the phylogenetic analysis of universal proteins. Different universal proteins strongly favour opposite scenarios for the origin of eukaryotes. The addition of fast‐evolving organisms to species data sets favours the branching of eukaryotes within archaea. Phylogenies of RNA polymerases, the largest universal proteins, support the monophyly of the three domains and the sisterhood of Archaea and Eukarya. Viruses cannot be formally located in the universal tree of life, but infect the universal tree from the trunk to the leaves.

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Asgard archaea are the closest prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes

Cited by 118 publications

References 14 publications

Why the Lipid Divide? Membrane Proteins as Drivers of the Split between the Lipids of the Three Domains of Life

Why the Lipid Divide? Membrane Proteins as Drivers of the Split between the Lipids of the Three Domains of Life

No genome is an island: toward a 21st century agenda for evolution

Universal Tree of Life

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