scholarly journals Archaeal Histone Contributions to the Origin of Eukaryotes

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 703-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford F. Brunk ◽  
William F. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Archaeal Histone ◽  
Origin Of Eukaryotes

The origin of eukaryotes and their relationship with the Archaea: are we at a phylogenomic impasse?

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 743-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simonetta Gribaldo ◽  
Anthony M. Poole ◽  
Vincent Daubin ◽  
Patrick Forterre ◽  
Céline Brochier-Armanet
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Eukaryotes

scholarly journals Nanoarchaeal Origin of Histone H3?

2008 ◽  
Vol 191 (3) ◽  
pp. 1092-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Friedrich-Jahn ◽  
Johanna Aigner ◽  
Gernot Längst ◽  
John N. Reeve ◽  
Harald Huber
Keyword(s):  
Histone H3 ◽  
Evolutionary Step ◽  
Nanoarchaeum Equitans ◽  
Archaeal Histone

ABSTRACT NEQ288, one of two archaeal histones in Nanoarchaeum equitans, has a unique four-residue insertion that closely resembles an insertion in the eukaryotic histone H3 lineage. NEQ288 bound DNA but did not compact DNA in vitro in the absence of NEQ348, the second N. equitans archaeal histone. The properties of NEQ288 suggest an intermediate between the archaeal and H3 histone lineages and an evolutionary step toward the now-mandatory assembly of eukaryotic histones into heterodimers.

Origin and Early Evolution of the Eukaryotic Cell

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Gabaldón
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Early Evolution ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Eukaryotic Evolution ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
Metabolic Interactions ◽  
Phylogenomic Analyses ◽  
Origin Of Eukaryotes

The origin of eukaryotes has been defined as the major evolutionary transition since the origin of life itself. Most hallmark traits of eukaryotes, such as their intricate intracellular organization, can be traced back to a putative common ancestor that predated the broad diversity of extant eukaryotes. However, little is known about the nature and relative order of events that occurred in the path from preexisting prokaryotes to this already sophisticated ancestor. The origin of mitochondria from the endosymbiosis of an alphaproteobacterium is one of the few robustly established events to which most hypotheses on the origin of eukaryotes are anchored, but the debate is still open regarding the time of this acquisition, the nature of the host, and the ecological and metabolic interactions between the symbiotic partners. After the acquisition of mitochondria, eukaryotes underwent a fast radiation into several major clades whose phylogenetic relationships have been largely elusive. Recent progress in the comparative analyses of a growing number of genomes is shedding light on the early events of eukaryotic evolution as well as on the root and branching patterns of the tree of eukaryotes. Here I discuss current knowledge and debates on the origin and early evolution of eukaryotes. I focus particularly on how phylogenomic analyses have challenged some of the early assumptions about eukaryotic evolution, including the widespread idea that mitochondrial symbiosis in an archaeal host was the earliest event in eukaryogenesis. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Microbiology, Volume 75 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals The DNA-binding protein HTa from Thermoplasma acidophilum is an archaeal histone analog

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Hocher ◽  
Maria Rojec ◽  
Jacob B Swadling ◽  
Alexander Esin ◽  
Tobias Warnecke
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Dna Binding Protein ◽  
Coli Strain ◽  
Micrococcal Nuclease ◽  
Thermoplasma Acidophilum ◽  
Chromatin Architecture ◽  
Archaeal Histone

Histones are a principal constituent of chromatin in eukaryotes and fundamental to our understanding of eukaryotic gene regulation. In archaea, histones are widespread but not universal: several lineages have lost histone genes. What prompted or facilitated these losses and how archaea without histones organize their chromatin remains largely unknown. Here, we elucidate primary chromatin architecture in an archaeon without histones, Thermoplasma acidophilum, which harbors a HU family protein (HTa) that protects part of the genome from micrococcal nuclease digestion. Charting HTa-based chromatin architecture in vitro, in vivo and in an HTa-expressing E. coli strain, we present evidence that HTa is an archaeal histone analog. HTa preferentially binds to GC-rich sequences, exhibits invariant positioning throughout the growth cycle, and shows archaeal histone-like oligomerization behavior. Our results suggest that HTa, a DNA-binding protein of bacterial origin, has converged onto an architectural role filled by histones in other archaea.

scholarly journals Asgard archaea are diverse, ubiquitous, and transcriptionally active microbes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingwei Cai ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Zhichao Zhou ◽  
Yuchun Yang ◽  
Jie Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
16S Rrna ◽  
16S Rrna Gene ◽  
Genomic Analysis ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Gene Sequences ◽  
16S Rrna Gene Sequences ◽  
Group D ◽  
Origin Of Eukaryotes

AbstractAsgard is a newly proposed archaeal superphylum. Phylogenetic position of Asgard archaea and its relationships to the origin of eukaryotes is attracting increasingly research interest. However, in-depth knowledge of their diversity, distribution, and activity of Asgard archaea remains limited. Here, we used phylogenetic analysis to cluster the publicly available Asgard archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences into 13 subgroups, including five previously unknown subgroups. These lineages were widely distributed in anaerobic environments, with the majority of 16S rRNA gene sequences (92%) originating from sediment habitats. Co-occurrence analysis revealed potential relationships between Asgard, Bathyarchaeota, and Marine Benthic Group D archaea. Genomic analysis suggested that Asgard archaea are potentially mixotrophic microbes with divergent metabolic capabilities. Importantly, metatranscriptomics confirmed the versatile lifestyles of Lokiarchaeota and Thorarchaeota, which can fix CO2using the tetrahydromethanopterin Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, perform acetogenesis, and degrade organic matters. Overall, this study broadens the understandings of Asgard archaea ecology, and also provides the first evidence to support a transcriptionally active mixotrophic lifestyle of Asgard archaea, shedding light on the potential roles of these microorganisms in the global biogeochemical cycling.

scholarly journals Surface histidine residue of archaeal histone affects DNA compaction and thermostability

2003 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroki Higashibata ◽  
Masood A. Siddiqui ◽  
Masahiro Takagi ◽  
Tadayuki Imanaka ◽  
Shinsuke Fujiwara
Keyword(s):  
Histidine Residue ◽  
Dna Compaction ◽  
Archaeal Histone

scholarly journals Energy, genes and evolution: introduction to an evolutionary synthesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1622) ◽  
pp. 20120253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Lane ◽  
William F. Martin ◽  
John A. Raven ◽  
John F. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Energy Harnessing ◽  
Emergence Of Life ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Planetary Habitability ◽  
Origin Of Eukaryotes

Life is the harnessing of chemical energy in such a way that the energy-harnessing device makes a copy of itself. No energy, no evolution. The ‘modern synthesis’ of the past century explained evolution in terms of genes, but this is only part of the story. While the mechanisms of natural selection are correct, and increasingly well understood, they do little to explain the actual trajectories taken by life on Earth. From a cosmic perspective—what is the probability of life elsewhere in the Universe, and what are its probable traits?—a gene-based view of evolution says almost nothing. Irresistible geological and environmental changes affected eukaryotes and prokaryotes in very different ways, ones that do not relate to specific genes or niches. Questions such as the early emergence of life, the morphological and genomic constraints on prokaryotes, the singular origin of eukaryotes, and the unique and perplexing traits shared by all eukaryotes but not found in any prokaryote, are instead illuminated by bioenergetics. If nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution, nothing in evolution makes sense except in the light of energetics. This Special Issue of Philosophical Transactions examines the interplay between energy transduction and genome function in the major transitions of evolution, with implications ranging from planetary habitability to human health. We hope that these papers will contribute to a new evolutionary synthesis of energetics and genetics.

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