University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Origins and evolution of modern biochemistry: insights from genomes and molecular structure.

Caetano-Anolles, Gustavo; Sun, Feng-Jie; Wang, Minglei; Yafremava, Liudmila S.; Harish, Ajith; Kim, Hee Shin; Knudsen, Vegeir; Caetano-Anolles, Derek; Mittenthal, Jay E.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/8746

Description

Title
Origins and evolution of modern biochemistry: insights from genomes and molecular structure.
Author(s)
  • Caetano-Anolles, Gustavo
  • Sun, Feng-Jie
  • Wang, Minglei
  • Yafremava, Liudmila S.
  • Harish, Ajith
  • Kim, Hee Shin
  • Knudsen, Vegeir
  • Caetano-Anolles, Derek
  • Mittenthal, Jay E.
Issue Date
2008-05-01
Keyword(s)
  • biochemistry
  • genomes
  • evolution of RNA
  • protein evolution
  • evolution of viruses
  • phylogenetics
  • proteome architecture
  • genetic code
Abstract
The survey of components in living systems at different levels of organization enables an evolutionary exploration of patterns and processes in macromolecules, networks, and genomic repertoires. Here we discuss how phylogenetic strategies that generate intrinsically rooted phylogenies impact the evolutionary study of RNA and protein components of the macromolecular machinery that is responsible for biological function. We used these methods to generate timelines of discovery of components in systems, such as substructures in RNA molecules, architectures in proteomes, domains in multi-domain proteins, enzymes in metabolic networks, and protein architectures in proteomes. These timelines unfolded remarkable patterns of origin and evolution of molecules, repertoires and networks, showing episodes of both functional specialization (e.g., rise of domains with specialized functions) and molecular simplification (e.g., reductive tendencies in molecules and proteomes). These observations have important evolutionary implications for origins of translation, the genetic code, modules in the protein world, and diversification of life, and suggest early evolution of modern biochemistry was driven by recruitment of both RNA and protein catalysts in an ancient community of complex organisms.
Publisher
Frontiers in Bioscience
ISSN
1093-4715
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
  • http://www.bioscience.org/current/vol13.htm
  • http://hdl.handle.net/2142/8746
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2741/3077
Copyright and License Information
  • Copyright held by Gustavo Caetano-Anolles.
  • This is an, un-copyedited, author manuscript that has been accepted for publication in the Frontiers in Bioscience.
  • Publishers policy: http://www.bioscience.org/guides/pubmed.htm

Owning Collections

Research and Publications - Crop Sciences PRIMARY
Original research publications by the Dept. of Crop Sciences Faculty, Graduate Students or Staff