Early evolution: prokaryotes, the new kids on the block.

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  • Author(s): Poole A;Poole A; Jeffares D; Penny D
  • Source:
    BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology [Bioessays] 1999 Oct; Vol. 21 (10), pp. 880-9.
  • Publication Type:
    Journal Article; Review
  • Language:
    English
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Wiley Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8510851 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0265-9247 (Print) Linking ISSN: 02659247 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Bioessays Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: <2005->: Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley
      Original Publication: Cambridge, UK : Published for the ICSU Press by Cambridge University Press, c1984-
    • Subject Terms:
      Biological Evolution* ; Prokaryotic Cells*; DNA/genetics ; DNA/metabolism ; Models, Biological ; Origin of Life ; RNA/genetics ; RNA/metabolism ; Ribosomes/metabolism
    • Abstract:
      Prokaryotes are generally assumed to be the oldest existing form of life on earth. This assumption, however, makes it difficult to understand certain aspects of the transition from earlier stages in the origin of life to more complex ones, and it does not account for many apparently ancient features in the eukaryotes. From a model of the RNA world, based on relic RNA species in modern organisms, one can infer that there was an absolute requirement for a high-accuracy RNA replicase even before proteins evolved. In addition, we argue here that the ribosome (together with the RNAs involved in its assembly) is so large that it must have had a prior function before protein synthesis. A model that connects and equates these two requirements (high-accuracy RNA replicase and prior function of the ribosome) can explain many steps in the origin of life while accounting for the observation that eukaryotes have retained more vestiges of the RNA world. The later derivation of prokaryote RNA metabolism and genome structure can be accounted for by the two complementary mechanisms of r-selection and thermoreduction.
      (Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
    • Number of References:
      66
    • Accession Number:
      63231-63-0 (RNA)
      9007-49-2 (DNA)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 19990925 Date Completed: 20000104 Latest Revision: 20151119
    • Publication Date:
      20221213
    • Accession Number:
      10.1002/(SICI)1521-1878(199910)21:10<880::AID-BIES11>3.0.CO;2-P
    • Accession Number:
      10497339