The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell

Eukaryogenesis represented a major evolutionary transition that led to the emergence of complex cells from simpler ancestors. For several decades, the most accepted scenario involved the evolution of an independent lineage of proto-eukaryotes endowed with an endomembrane system, including a nuclear...

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Main Authors: López-García, Purificación, Moreira, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Académie des sciences 2023-05-01
Series:Comptes Rendus Biologies
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Online Access:https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.5802/crbiol.118/
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author López-García, Purificación
Moreira, David
author_facet López-García, Purificación
Moreira, David
author_sort López-García, Purificación
collection DOAJ
description Eukaryogenesis represented a major evolutionary transition that led to the emergence of complex cells from simpler ancestors. For several decades, the most accepted scenario involved the evolution of an independent lineage of proto-eukaryotes endowed with an endomembrane system, including a nuclear compartment, a developed cytoskeleton and phagocytosis, which engulfed the alphaproteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria. However, the recent discovery by metagenomic and cultural approaches of Asgard archaea, which harbour many genes in common with eukaryotes and are their closest relatives in phylogenomic trees, rather supports scenarios based on the symbiosis of one Asgard-like archaeon and one or more bacteria at the origin of the eukaryotic cell. Here, we review the recent discoveries that led to this conceptual shift, briefly evoking current models of eukaryogenesis and the challenges ahead to discriminate between them and to establish a detailed, plausible scenario that accounts for the evolution of eukaryotic traits from those of their prokaryotic ancestors.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1768-3238
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publishDate 2023-05-01
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spelling doaj-art-4362587ea3d742c8abd4a223edd2fd872025-02-07T10:36:22ZengAcadémie des sciencesComptes Rendus Biologies1768-32382023-05-01346G1557410.5802/crbiol.11810.5802/crbiol.118The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cellLópez-García, Purificación0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0927-0651Moreira, David1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2064-5354Ecologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Gif-sur-Yvette, FranceEcologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Gif-sur-Yvette, FranceEukaryogenesis represented a major evolutionary transition that led to the emergence of complex cells from simpler ancestors. For several decades, the most accepted scenario involved the evolution of an independent lineage of proto-eukaryotes endowed with an endomembrane system, including a nuclear compartment, a developed cytoskeleton and phagocytosis, which engulfed the alphaproteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria. However, the recent discovery by metagenomic and cultural approaches of Asgard archaea, which harbour many genes in common with eukaryotes and are their closest relatives in phylogenomic trees, rather supports scenarios based on the symbiosis of one Asgard-like archaeon and one or more bacteria at the origin of the eukaryotic cell. Here, we review the recent discoveries that led to this conceptual shift, briefly evoking current models of eukaryogenesis and the challenges ahead to discriminate between them and to establish a detailed, plausible scenario that accounts for the evolution of eukaryotic traits from those of their prokaryotic ancestors.https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.5802/crbiol.118/EukaryogenesisSymbiogenesisSymbiosisSyntrophyMitochondriaNucleusAsgard archaea
spellingShingle López-García, Purificación
Moreira, David
The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell
Comptes Rendus Biologies
Eukaryogenesis
Symbiogenesis
Symbiosis
Syntrophy
Mitochondria
Nucleus
Asgard archaea
title The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell
title_full The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell
title_fullStr The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell
title_full_unstemmed The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell
title_short The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell
title_sort symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell
topic Eukaryogenesis
Symbiogenesis
Symbiosis
Syntrophy
Mitochondria
Nucleus
Asgard archaea
url https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.5802/crbiol.118/
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