Affiliation:
1. Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA
2. Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Abstract
Abstract
Through analyses of diverse microeukaryotes, we have previously argued that eukaryotic genomes are dynamic systems that rely on epigenetic mechanisms to distinguish germline (i.e., DNA to be inherited) from soma (i.e., DNA that undergoes polyploidization, genome rearrangement, etc.), even in the context of a single nucleus. Here, we extend these arguments by including two well-documented observations: (1) eukaryotic genomes interact frequently with mobile genetic elements (MGEs) like viruses and transposable elements (TEs), creating genetic conflict, and (2) epigenetic mechanisms regulate MGEs. Synthesis of these ideas leads to the hypothesis that genetic conflict with MGEs contributed to the evolution of a dynamic eukaryotic genome in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA), and may have contributed to eukaryogenesis (i.e., may have been a driver in the evolution of FECA, the first eukaryotic common ancestor). Sex (i.e., meiosis) may have evolved within the context of the development of germline–soma distinctions in LECA, as this process resets the germline genome by regulating/eliminating somatic (i.e., polyploid, rearranged) genetic material. Our synthesis of these ideas expands on hypotheses of the origin of eukaryotes by integrating the roles of MGEs and epigenetics.
Funder
National Institutes of Health
National Science Foundation
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Genetics (clinical),Genetics,Molecular Biology,Biotechnology
Reference66 articles.
1. Gene flow and biological conflict systems in the origin and evolution of eukaryotes;Aravind;Front Cell Infect Microbiol,2012
2. piRNAs can trigger a multigenerational epigenetic memory in the germline of C. elegans;Ashe;Cell,2012
3. Epigenetic regulation of viral biological processes;Balakrishnan;Viruses,2017
4. The viral eukaryogenesis hypothesis: a key role for viruses in the emergence of eukaryotes from a prokaryotic world environment;Bell,2009
5. The evolution of evolution;Bonner;J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol,2019
Cited by
7 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献