Descent of Bacteria and Eukarya From an Archaeal Root of Life

Abstract

The 3 biological domains delineated based on small subunit ribosomal RNAs (SSU rRNAs) are confronted by uncertainties regarding the relationship between Archaea and Bacteria, and the origin of Eukarya. The similarities between the paralogous valyl-tRNA and isoleucyl-tRNA synthetases in 5398 species estimated by BLASTP, which decreased from Archaea to Bacteria and further to Eukarya, were consistent with vertical gene transmission from an archaeal root of life close to Methanopyrus kandleri through a Primitive Archaea Cluster to an Ancestral Bacteria Cluster, and to Eukarya. The predominant similarities of the ribosomal proteins (rProts) of eukaryotes toward archaeal rProts relative to bacterial rProts established that an archaeal parent rather than a bacterial parent underwent genome merger with bacteria to generate eukaryotes with mitochondria. Eukaryogenesis benefited from the predominantly archaeal accelerated gene adoption (AGA) phenotype pertaining to horizontally transferred genes from other prokaryotes and expedited genome evolution via both gene-content mutations and nucleotidyl mutations. Archaeons endowed with substantial AGA activity were accordingly favored as candidate archaeal parents. Based on the top similarity bitscores displayed by their proteomes toward the eukaryotic proteomes of Giardia and Trichomonas, and high AGA activity, the Aciduliprofundum archaea were identified as leading candidates of the archaeal parent. The Asgard archaeons and a number of bacterial species were among the foremost potential contributors of eukaryotic-like proteins to Eukarya.