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Inference and reconstruction of the heimdallarchaeial ancestry of eukaryotes

Eme, Laura ; Tamarit, Daniel ; Caceres, Eva F ; Stairs, Courtney W LU orcid ; De Anda, Valerie ; Schön, Max E ; Seitz, Kiley W ; Dombrowski, Nina ; Lewis, William H and Homa, Felix , et al. (2023) In Nature 618(7967). p.992-999
Abstract

In the ongoing debates about eukaryogenesis-the series of evolutionary events leading to the emergence of the eukaryotic cell from prokaryotic ancestors-members of the Asgard archaea play a key part as the closest archaeal relatives of eukaryotes
1. However, the nature and phylogenetic identity of the last common ancestor of Asgard archaea and eukaryotes remain unresolved
2-4. Here we analyse distinct phylogenetic marker datasets of an expanded genomic sampling of Asgard archaea and evaluate competing evolutionary scenarios using state-of-the-art phylogenomic approaches. We find that eukaryotes are placed, with high confidence, as a well-nested clade within Asgard archaea and as a sister lineage to Hodarchaeales, a newly... (More)

In the ongoing debates about eukaryogenesis-the series of evolutionary events leading to the emergence of the eukaryotic cell from prokaryotic ancestors-members of the Asgard archaea play a key part as the closest archaeal relatives of eukaryotes
1. However, the nature and phylogenetic identity of the last common ancestor of Asgard archaea and eukaryotes remain unresolved
2-4. Here we analyse distinct phylogenetic marker datasets of an expanded genomic sampling of Asgard archaea and evaluate competing evolutionary scenarios using state-of-the-art phylogenomic approaches. We find that eukaryotes are placed, with high confidence, as a well-nested clade within Asgard archaea and as a sister lineage to Hodarchaeales, a newly proposed order within Heimdallarchaeia. Using sophisticated gene tree and species tree reconciliation approaches, we show that analogous to the evolution of eukaryotic genomes, genome evolution in Asgard archaea involved significantly more gene duplication and fewer gene loss events compared with other archaea. Finally, we infer that the last common ancestor of Asgard archaea was probably a thermophilic chemolithotroph and that the lineage from which eukaryotes evolved adapted to mesophilic conditions and acquired the genetic potential to support a heterotrophic lifestyle. Our work provides key insights into the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition and a platform for better understanding the emergence of cellular complexity in eukaryotic cells.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature
volume
618
issue
7967
pages
8 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85161898060
  • pmid:37316666
ISSN
0028-0836
DOI
10.1038/s41586-023-06186-2
project
It takes two to tango without oxygen: metabolic syntrophy in eukaryotic evolution
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2023. The Author(s).
id
139234d0-9118-4982-9b45-fb343c0f70f1
date added to LUP
2023-06-16 11:06:40
date last changed
2024-04-19 22:55:39
@article{139234d0-9118-4982-9b45-fb343c0f70f1,
  abstract     = {{<p>In the ongoing debates about eukaryogenesis-the series of evolutionary events leading to the emergence of the eukaryotic cell from prokaryotic ancestors-members of the Asgard archaea play a key part as the closest archaeal relatives of eukaryotes<br>
 1. However, the nature and phylogenetic identity of the last common ancestor of Asgard archaea and eukaryotes remain unresolved<br>
 2-4. Here we analyse distinct phylogenetic marker datasets of an expanded genomic sampling of Asgard archaea and evaluate competing evolutionary scenarios using state-of-the-art phylogenomic approaches. We find that eukaryotes are placed, with high confidence, as a well-nested clade within Asgard archaea and as a sister lineage to Hodarchaeales, a newly proposed order within Heimdallarchaeia. Using sophisticated gene tree and species tree reconciliation approaches, we show that analogous to the evolution of eukaryotic genomes, genome evolution in Asgard archaea involved significantly more gene duplication and fewer gene loss events compared with other archaea. Finally, we infer that the last common ancestor of Asgard archaea was probably a thermophilic chemolithotroph and that the lineage from which eukaryotes evolved adapted to mesophilic conditions and acquired the genetic potential to support a heterotrophic lifestyle. Our work provides key insights into the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition and a platform for better understanding the emergence of cellular complexity in eukaryotic cells.<br>
 </p>}},
  author       = {{Eme, Laura and Tamarit, Daniel and Caceres, Eva F and Stairs, Courtney W and De Anda, Valerie and Schön, Max E and Seitz, Kiley W and Dombrowski, Nina and Lewis, William H and Homa, Felix and Saw, Jimmy H and Lombard, Jonathan and Nunoura, Takuro and Li, Wen-Jun and Hua, Zheng-Shuang and Chen, Lin-Xing and Banfield, Jillian F and John, Emily St and Reysenbach, Anna-Louise and Stott, Matthew B and Schramm, Andreas and Kjeldsen, Kasper U and Teske, Andreas P and Baker, Brett J and Ettema, Thijs J G}},
  issn         = {{0028-0836}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{7967}},
  pages        = {{992--999}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature}},
  title        = {{Inference and reconstruction of the heimdallarchaeial ancestry of eukaryotes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06186-2}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41586-023-06186-2}},
  volume       = {{618}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}