Uncovering the Genomic Origins of Life

The Origin of Life Domain (OLD) is the period during which life on Earth began. Here, we derive and use a new phylogenetic algorithm to analyze Protein Families in order to reconstruct the chronological steps by which the OLD evolved. During this period, life began with the appearance of the fundame...

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Published inGenome biology and evolution Vol. 10; no. 7; pp. 1705 - 1714
Main Authors Lake, James A, Larsen, Joseph, Tran, Dan Thy, Sinsheimer, Janet S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Oxford University Press 01.07.2018
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Summary:The Origin of Life Domain (OLD) is the period during which life on Earth began. Here, we derive and use a new phylogenetic algorithm to analyze Protein Families in order to reconstruct the chronological steps by which the OLD evolved. During this period, life began with the appearance of the fundamental components of life such as RNAs, DNAs, amino acids, and membranes. Chronologically, the Origin of Life preceded the Last Universal Common Ancestor, which then subsequently engendered modern life on Earth. Our phylogenetic algorithm allows us to explicitly answer previously unknown origin of life questions. Specifically, we explain and illustrate our computational methods by reconstructing the rings describing the evolution of the RNA and DNA worlds. We phylogenetically reconstruct how the RNA and DNA worlds evolved, infer the origins and chronological order of appearance of the first genetic codes, test whether the Ribosomal RNA world preceded the Membrane world, and interpret these new findings with respect to the experimental and theoretical origin of life studies by others.
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Data deposition: All data obtained in this study are presented in table 1, “Pattern Counts for Origin of Life Ring Analyses.” The python script used for downloading the Pfam data will be uploaded to the Dryad, or to a similar website upon publication of this article.
ISSN:1759-6653
1759-6653
DOI:10.1093/gbe/evy129