相关论文: Challenging Eukaryogenesis: The Story of the Eukar…
A central and long-standing issue in evolutionary theory is the origin of the biological variation upon which natural selection acts1. Some hypotheses suggest that evolutionary change represents an adaptation to the surrounding environment…
The origin and early evolution of eukaryotes are one of the major transitions in the evolution of life on earth. One of its most interesting aspects is the emergence of cellular organelles, their dynamics, their functions, and their…
All living cells interact dynamically with a constantly changing world. Eukaryotes in particular, evolved radically new ways to sense and react to their environment. These advances enabled new and more complex forms of cellular behavior in…
Eukarya and Bacteria are the most evolutionarily distant domains of life, which is reflected by differences in their cellular structure and physiology. For example, Eukarya feature membrane-bound organelles such as nuclei and mitochondria,…
Genome length varies widely among organisms, from compact genomes of prokaryotes to vast and complex genomes of eukaryotes. In this study, we theoretically identify the evolutionary pressures that may have driven this divergence in genome…
The origin of organelles (mitochondrion, chloroplast and nucleus) remains enigmatic. The endosymbiotic hypothesis that chloroplasts, mitochondria and nuclei descend from the endosymbiotic cyanobacterium, bacterium and archaebacterium…
Significant phylogenetic codivergence between plant or animal hosts ($H$) and their symbionts or parasites ($P$) indicate the importance of their interactions on evolutionary time scales. However, valid and realistic methods to test for…
Bacteriophages are viruses infecting bacteria and archaea. Many phage species cause infections which lead to the certain death of the infected prokaryotic host cell and the release of a large batch of phage progeny, yet they have been able…
Related groups of microbes are widely distributed across Earth's habitats, implying numerous dispersal and adaptation events over evolutionary time. However, to date, relatively little is known about the characteristics and mechanisms of…
The phenomenon of gene conservation is an interesting evolutionary problem related to speciation and adaptation. Conserved genes are acted upon in evolution in a way that preserves their function despite other structural and functional…
One way to understand the role history plays on evolutionary trajectories is by giving ancient life a second opportunity to evolve. Our ability to empirically perform such an experiment, however, is limited by current experimental designs.…
Any search for present or past life beyond Earth should consider the initial processes and related environmental controls that might have led to its start. As on Earth, such an understanding lies well beyond how simple organic molecules…
Ubiquinone is an important component of the electron transfer chains in proteobacteria and eukaryotes. The biosynthesis of ubiquinone requires multiple steps, most of which are common to bacteria and eukaryotes. Whereas the enzymes of the…
Unlike most human-engineered systems, many biological systems rely on emergent behaviors from low-level interactions, enabling greater diversity and superior adaptation to complex, dynamic environments. This study explores emergent…
Following genetic ancestry in eukaryote populations poses several open problems due to sexual reproduction and recombination. The history of extant genetic material is usually modeled backwards in time, but tracking chromosomes at a large…
The haloarchaea are aerobic, heterotrophic, photophosphorylating prokaryotes, whose supposed closest relatives and ancestors, the methanogens, are CO2-reducing, anaerobic chemolithotrophs. Using two available haloarchaeal genomes we firstly…
The evolutionary reason for the increase in gene length from archaea to prokaryotes to eukaryotes observed in large scale genome sequencing efforts has been unclear. We propose here that the increasing complexity of protein-protein…
Results from molecular systematics and comparative developmental genetics changed the picture of metazoan and especially bilaterian radiation. According to this new animal phylogeny (introduced by Adoutte et al. 1999/2000), Grobbens (1908)…
Although the role of lateral gene transfer is well recognized in the evolution of bacteria, it is generally assumed that it has had less influence among eukaryotes. To explore this hypothesis we compare the dynamics of genome evolution in…
The rise of multicellularity in the early evolution of life represents a major challenge for evolutionary biology. Guidance for finding answers has emerged from disparate fields, from phylogenetics to modelling and synthetic biology, but…