The hybrid nature of the Eukaryota and a consilient view of life on Earth

McInerney and colleagues summarize the phylogenetic, cell biological, population biology, biochemical and paleontological evidence that cellular life consists of two primary, paraphyletic, prokaryotic groups and one secondary, monophyletic group that has symbiogenic origins — the eukaryotes. The ori...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature reviews. Microbiology 2014-06, Vol.12 (6), p.449-455
Main Authors: McInerney, James O., O'Connell, Mary J., Pisani, Davide
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/181/904
Biological Evolution
Eukaryota - genetics
Eukaryotes
Genetic aspects
Hypotheses
Hypothesis testing
Infectious Diseases
Life
Life Sciences
Medical Microbiology
Microbiology
opinion-2
Origin
Paleontology
Parasitology
Phylogenetic trees
Phylogenetics
Prokaryotes
Prokaryotic Cells - physiology
Scientists
Virology
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Summary:McInerney and colleagues summarize the phylogenetic, cell biological, population biology, biochemical and paleontological evidence that cellular life consists of two primary, paraphyletic, prokaryotic groups and one secondary, monophyletic group that has symbiogenic origins — the eukaryotes. The origin of the eukaryotic cell, which is known as eukaryogenesis, has puzzled scientists for more than 100 years, and many hypotheses have been proposed. Recent analyses of new data enable the safe elimination of some of these hypotheses, whereas support for other hypotheses has increased. In this Opinion article, we evaluate the available theories for their compatibility with empirical observations and conclude that cellular life consists of two primary, paraphyletic prokaryotic groups and one secondary, monophyletic group that has symbiogenic origins — the eukaryotes.
ISSN:1740-1526
1740-1534
DOI:10.1038/nrmicro3271