MIB200A at UCDavis Module: Microbial Phylogeny; Class 4
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The document discusses the discovery of Lokiarchaeota, a new archaeal lineage related to the TACK superphylum. Phylogenomic analyses place Lokiarchaeota as the nearest relative of eukaryotes. Interestingly, the genome of Lokiarchaeota encodes many eukaryotic-specific features, such as distant homologs of actin and tubulin, ESCRT complex proteins involved in cell division, and proteins related to transcription and translation. This provides unique insights into the emergence of cellular complexity in eukaryotes and suggests the archaeal ancestor was more complex than previously known archaeal lineages. The genome content of Lokiarchaeota holds clues about the nature of the archaeal ancestor
MIB200A at UCDavis Module: Microbial Phylogeny; Class 4
- 1. Class 3: MIB200 Biology of Organisms without Nuclei Class #3: A New View of the Tree of Life UC Davis, Fall 2019 Instructor: Jonathan Eisen 1
- 4. Class 4: MIB200 Biology of Organisms without Nuclei Class #4 Asgard Archaea UC Davis, Fall 2019 Instructor: Jonathan Eisen 4
- 5. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Lokiarchaea named after Loki’s Castle Vent Site
- 6. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Thorarchaeota http://sites.utexas.edu/baker-lab/2016/01/29/introducing-thorarchaeota/
- 7. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Asgard Archaea Something is Wrong Here
- 8. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Complaining on Twitter …
- 9. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Response ..
- 10. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Helarchaeota
- 11. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Freya not next ..
- 12. Slides by Jonathan Eisen for BIS2C at UC Davis Spring 2019 Helarchaeota
- 14. Introduction
- 15. Cellular life is currently classified into three domains: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. Whereas the cytological properties of Bacteria and Archaea are relatively simple, eukaryotes are characterized by a high degree of cellular complexity, which is hard to reconcile given that most hypotheses assume a prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition1,2. In this context, it seems particularly difficult to account for the suggested presence of the endomembrane system, the nuclear pores, the spliceosome, the ubiquitin protein degradation system, the RNAi machinery, the cytoskeletal motors and the phagocytotic machinery in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (ref. 3 and references therein). Ever since the recognition of the archaeal domain of life by Carl Woese and co-workers4,5, Archaea have featured prominently in hypotheses for the origin of eukaryotes, as eukaryotes and Archaea represented sister lineages in Woese’s ‘universal tree’5. The evolutionary link between Archaea and eukaryotes was further reinforced through stud- ies of the transcription machinery6 and the first archaeal genomes7, revealing that many genes, including the core of the genetic information-processing machineries of Archaea, were more similar to those of eukaryotes8 rather than to Bacteria. Introduction
- 16. Cellular life is currently classified into three domains: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. Whereas the cytological properties of Bacteria and Archaea are relatively simple, eukaryotes are characterized by a high degree of cellular complexity, which is hard to reconcile given that most hypotheses assume a prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition1,2. In this context, it seems particularly difficult to account for the suggested presence of the endomembrane system, the nuclear pores, the spliceosome, the ubiquitin protein degradation system, the RNAi machinery, the cytoskeletal motors and the phagocytotic machinery in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (ref. 3 and references therein). Ever since the recognition of the archaeal domain of life by Carl Woese and co-workers4,5, Archaea have featured prominently in hypotheses for the origin of eukaryotes, as eukaryotes and Archaea represented sister lineages in Woese’s ‘universal tree’5. The evolutionary link between Archaea and eukaryotes was further reinforced through stud- ies of the transcription machinery6 and the first archaeal genomes7, revealing that many genes, including the core of the genetic information-processing machineries of Archaea, were more similar to those of eukaryotes8 rather than to Bacteria. Introduction
- 17. During the early stages of the genomic era, it also became apparent that eukaryotic genomes were chimaeric by nature8,9, comprising genes of both archaeal and bacterial origin, in addition to genes specific to eukaryotes. Yet, whereas many of the bacterial genes could be traced back to the alphaproteobacterial progenitor of mitochondria, the nature of the lineage from which the eukaryotic host evolved remained obscure1,10–13. This lineage might either descend from a common ancestor shared with Archaea (follow- ing Woese’s classical three- domains-of-life tree5), or have emerged from within the archaeal domain (so-called archaeal host or eocyte-like scenarios1,14–17). Recent phylogenetic analyses of universal protein data sets have provided increasing support for models in which eukaryotes emerge as sister to or from within the archaeal ‘TACK’ superphylum18–22, a clade originally comprising the archaeal phyla Thaumarchaeota, Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota and Korarchaeota23. Introduction
- 18. During the early stages of the genomic era, it also became apparent that eukaryotic genomes were chimaeric by nature8,9, comprising genes of both archaeal and bacterial origin, in addition to genes specific to eukaryotes. Yet, whereas many of the bacterial genes could be traced back to the alphaproteobacterial progenitor of mitochondria, the nature of the lineage from which the eukaryotic host evolved remained obscure1,10–13. This lineage might either descend from a common ancestor shared with Archaea (follow- ing Woese’s classical three- domains-of-life tree5), or have emerged from within the archaeal domain (so-called archaeal host or eocyte-like scenarios1,14–17). Recent phylogenetic analyses of universal protein data sets have provided increasing support for models in which eukaryotes emerge as sister to or from within the archaeal ‘TACK’ superphylum18–22, a clade originally comprising the archaeal phyla Thaumarchaeota, Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota and Korarchaeota23. Introduction
- 19. In support of this relationship, comparative genomics analyses have revealed several eukaryotic signature proteins (ESPs)24 in TACK lineages, including distant archaeal homologues of actin25 and tubulin26, archaeal cell division proteins related to the eukaryotic endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT)-III complex27, and several information-processing proteins involved in transcription and translation2,17,23. These findings suggest an archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes that might have been more complex than the archaeal lineages identified thus far2,23,28. Yet, the absence of missing links in the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition currently precludes detailed predictions about the nature and timing of events that have driven the process of eukaryogenesis1,2,17,28. Here we describe the discovery of a new archaeal lineage related to the TACK superphylum that represents the nearest relative of eukaryotes in phylogenomic analyses, and intriguingly, its genome encodes many eukaryote-specific features, providing a unique insight in the emergence of cellular complexity in eukaryotes. Introduction
- 20. In support of this relationship, comparative genomics analyses have revealed several eukaryotic signature proteins (ESPs)24 in TACK lineages, including distant archaeal homologues of actin25 and tubulin26, archaeal cell division proteins related to the eukaryotic endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT)-III complex27, and several information-processing proteins involved in transcription and translation2,17,23. These findings suggest an archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes that might have been more complex than the archaeal lineages identified thus far2,23,28. Yet, the absence of missing links in the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition currently precludes detailed predictions about the nature and timing of events that have driven the process of eukaryogenesis1,2,17,28. Here we describe the discovery of a new archaeal lineage related to the TACK superphylum that represents the nearest relative of eukaryotes in phylogenomic analyses, and intriguingly, its genome encodes many eukaryote-specific features, providing a unique insight in the emergence of cellular complexity in eukaryotes. Introduction
- 21. Don’t Forget Supplemental Information
- 23. Figure 2 | Metagenomic reconstruction and phylogenetic analysis of Lokiarchaeum. a, Schematic overview of the metagenomics approach. BI, Bayesian inference; ML, maximum likelihood. b, Bayesian phylogeny of concatenated alignments comprising 36 conserved phylogenetic marker proteins using sophisticated models of protein evolution (Methods), showing eukaryotes branching within Lokiarchaeota. Numbers above and below branches refer to Bayesian posterior probability and maximum- likelihood bootstrap support values, respectively. Posterior probability values above 0.7 and bootstrap support values above 70 are shown. Scale indicates the number of substitutions per site. c, Phylogenetic breakdown of the Lokiarchaeum proteome, in comparison with proteomes of Korarchaeota, Aigarchaeota (Caldiarchaeum) and Miscellaneous Crenarchaeota Group (MCG) archaea. Category ‘Other’ contains proteins assigned to the root of cellular organisms, to viruses and to unclassified proteins
- 28. Actins
- 30. In eukaryotes, the ESCRT machinery represents an essential com- ponent of the multivesicular endosome pathway for lysosomal degradation of damaged or superfluous proteins, and it plays a role in several budding processes including cytokinesis, autophagy and viral budding44. The ESCRT machinery generally consists of the ESCRT- I–III subcomplexes, as well as associated subunits45. The analysis of the Lokiarchaeum genome revealed the presence of an ESCRT gene cluster (Fig. 4a), as well as of several additional pro- teins homologous to components of the eukaryotic multivesicular endosome pathway.
- 32. We have identified and characterized the genome of Lokiarchaeota, a novel, deeply rooting clade of the archaeal TACK superphylum, which in phylogenomic analyses of universal proteins forms a mono- phyletic group with eukaryotes. While the obtained phylogenomic resolution testifies to a deep archaeal ancestry of eukaryotes, the Lokiarchaeum genome content holds valuable clues about the nature of the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes, and about the process of eukaryogenesis. Many of the ESPs previously identified in different TACK lineages are united in Lokiarchaeum, indicating that the patchy distribution of ESPs amongst archaea is most likely the result of lineage- specific losses2 (Fig. 5). Moreover, the Lokiarchaeum genome significantly expands the total number of ESPs in Archaea, lending support to the observed phylogenetic affiliation of Lokiarchaeota and eukaryotes. Finally, and importantly, sequence-based functional pre- dictions for these new ESPs indicate a predominance of proteins that play pivotal roles in various membrane remodelling and vesicular trafficking processes in eukaryotes. It is also noteworthy that Lokiarchaeum appears to encode the most ‘eukaryotic-like’ ribosome identified in Archaea thus far (Supplementary Discussion 4), including a putative homologue of eukaryotic ribosomal protein L22e (Fig. 5; Supplementary Fig. 24 and Supplementary Tables 7 and 8).
- 33. Taken together, our data indicate that the archaeal ancestor of eukar- yotes was even more complex than previously inferred2 and allow us to speculate on the timing and order of several key events in the process of eukaryogenesis. For example, the identification of archaeal genes involved in membrane remodelling and vesicular trafficking processes indicates that the emergence of cellular complexity was already under- way before the acquisition of the mitochondrial endosymbiont, which now appears to be a universal feature of all eukaryotes28,37,50. Indeed, based upon our results it seems plausible that the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes had a dynamic actin cytoskeleton and potentially endo- and/or phagocytic capabilities, which would have facilitated the invagination of the mitochondrial progenitor. The present identification and genomic characterization of a novel archaeal group that shares a common ancestry with eukaryotes indi- cates that the gap between prokaryotes and eukaryotes might, to some extent, be a result of poor sampling of the existing archaeal diversity. Environmental surveys have revealed the existence of a plethora of uncultured archaeal lineages, and some of these likely represent even closer relatives of eukaryotes. Excitingly, the genomic exploration of these archaeal lineages has now come within reach. Such endeavours, combined with prospective studies focusing on uncovering metabolic, chemical and cell biological properties of these lineages, will uncover further details about the identity and nature of the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes, shedding new light on the evolutionary dark ages of the eukaryotic cell.