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The Very Early Stages of Biological Evolution and the Nature of the Last Common Ancestor of the Three Major Cell Domains
Abstract
Quantitative estimates of the gene complement of the last common ancestor of all extant organisms, that is, the cenancestor, may be hindered by ancient horizontal gene transfer events and polyphyletic gene losses, as well as by biases in genome databases and methodological artifacts. Nevertheless, most reports agree that the last common ancestor resembled extant prokaryotes. A significant number of the highly conserved genes are sequences involved in the synthesis, degradation, and binding of RNA, including transcription and translation. Although the gene complement of the cenancestor includes sequences that may have originated in different epochs, the extraordinary conservation of RNA-related sequences supports the hypothesis that the last common ancestor was an evolutionary outcome of the so-called RNA/protein world. The available evidence suggests that the cenancestor was not a hyperthermophile, but it is currently not possible to assess its ecological niche or its mode of energy acquisition and carbon sources.
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“Because all known life evolved from a single ancestor or ancestral community, every life-form shares a common set of inherited properties (Woese, 1998; Becerra et al., 2007; Theobald, 2010).”
From The Astrobiology Primer v2.0 (2016) · cites this paper as Becerra et al., 2007
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Metadata
- Authors
- Becerra, A., Delaye, L., Islas, S., & Lazcano, A.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2007-12-01
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 361-379
- ISSN
- 1543-592X (ISSN-L)
- 1545-2069
- OpenAlex
- W2117729494
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 86
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 0.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Virginia
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Keywords
- last common ancestor, horizontal gene transfer, gene loss, RNA world, prokaryotes, hyperthermophiles, origin of life
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