Reconstructing the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes

TY - JOUR

T1 - Reconstructing the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes

AU - Richards, Thomas A

AU - Eme, Laura

AU - Archibald, John M

AU - Leonard, Guy

AU - Coelho, Susana M

AU - de Mendoza, Alex

AU - Dessimoz, Christophe

AU - Dolezal, Pavel

AU - Fritz-Laylin, Lillian K

AU - Gabaldón, Toni

AU - Hampl, Vladimír

AU - Kops, Geert J P L

AU - Leger, Michelle M

AU - Lopez-Garcia, Purificacion

AU - McInerney, James O

AU - Moreira, David

AU - Muñoz-Gómez, Sergio A

AU - Richter, Daniel J

AU - Ruiz-Trillo, Iñaki

AU - Santoro, Alyson E

AU - Sebé-Pedrós, Arnau

AU - Snel, Berend

AU - Stairs, Courtney W

AU - Tromer, Eelco C

AU - van Hooff, Jolien J E

AU - Wickstead, Bill

AU - Williams, Tom A

AU - Roger, Andrew J

AU - Dacks, Joel B

AU - Wideman, Jeremy G

N1 - Copyright: © 2024 Richards et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2024/11

Y1 - 2024/11

N2 - Understanding the origin of eukaryotic cells is one of the most difficult problems in all of biology. A key challenge relevant to the question of eukaryogenesis is reconstructing the gene repertoire of the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA). As data sets grow, sketching an accurate genomics-informed picture of early eukaryotic cellular complexity requires provision of analytical resources and a commitment to data sharing. Here, we summarise progress towards understanding the biology of LECA and outline a community approach to inferring its wider gene repertoire. Once assembled, a robust LECA gene set will be a useful tool for evaluating alternative hypotheses about the origin of eukaryotes and understanding the evolution of traits in all descendant lineages, with relevance in diverse fields such as cell biology, microbial ecology, biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine. In this Consensus View, we put forth the status quo and an agreed path forward to reconstruct LECA's gene content.

AB - Understanding the origin of eukaryotic cells is one of the most difficult problems in all of biology. A key challenge relevant to the question of eukaryogenesis is reconstructing the gene repertoire of the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA). As data sets grow, sketching an accurate genomics-informed picture of early eukaryotic cellular complexity requires provision of analytical resources and a commitment to data sharing. Here, we summarise progress towards understanding the biology of LECA and outline a community approach to inferring its wider gene repertoire. Once assembled, a robust LECA gene set will be a useful tool for evaluating alternative hypotheses about the origin of eukaryotes and understanding the evolution of traits in all descendant lineages, with relevance in diverse fields such as cell biology, microbial ecology, biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine. In this Consensus View, we put forth the status quo and an agreed path forward to reconstruct LECA's gene content.

KW - Eukaryota/genetics

KW - Phylogeny

KW - Eukaryotic Cells/metabolism

KW - Evolution, Molecular

KW - Genomics/methods

KW - Biological Evolution

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002917

DO - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002917

M3 - Article

C2 - 39585925

SN - 1544-9173

VL - 22

SP - e3002917

JO - PLoS Biology

JF - PLoS Biology

IS - 11

ER -