TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring microbial dark matter to resolve the deep archaeal ancestry of eukaryotes
AU - Saw, Jimmy H.
AU - Spang, Anja
AU - Zaremba-Niedzwiedzka, Katarzyna
AU - Juzokaite, Lina
AU - Dodsworth, Jeremy A.
AU - Murugapiran, Senthil K.
AU - Colman, Dan R.
AU - Takacs-Vesbach, Cristina
AU - Hedlund, Brian P.
AU - Guy, Lionel
AU - Ettema, Thijs J.G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Authors.
PY - 2015/9/26
Y1 - 2015/9/26
N2 - The origin of eukaryotes represents an enigmatic puzzle, which is still lacking a number of essential pieces. Whereas it is currently accepted that the process of eukaryogenesis involved an interplay between a host cell and an alphaproteobacterial endosymbiont, we currently lack detailed information regarding the identity and nature of these players. A number of studies have provided increasing support for the emergence of the eukaryotic host cell from within the archaeal domain of life, displaying a specific affiliation with the archaeal TACK superphylum. Recent studies have shown that genomic exploration of yet-uncultivated archaea, the so-called archaeal ‘dark matter’, is able to provide unprecedented insights into the process of eukaryogenesis. Here, we provide an overview of state-of-the-art cultivation-independent approaches, and demonstrate how these methods were used to obtain draft genome sequences of several novel members of the TACK superphylum, including Lokiarchaeum, two representatives of the Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group (Bathyarchaeota), and a Korarchaeum-related lineage. The maturation of cultivation-independent genomics approaches, as well as future developments in next-generation sequencing technologies, will revolutionize our current view of microbial evolution and diversity, and provide profound new insights into the early evolution of life, including the enigmatic origin of the eukaryotic cell.
AB - The origin of eukaryotes represents an enigmatic puzzle, which is still lacking a number of essential pieces. Whereas it is currently accepted that the process of eukaryogenesis involved an interplay between a host cell and an alphaproteobacterial endosymbiont, we currently lack detailed information regarding the identity and nature of these players. A number of studies have provided increasing support for the emergence of the eukaryotic host cell from within the archaeal domain of life, displaying a specific affiliation with the archaeal TACK superphylum. Recent studies have shown that genomic exploration of yet-uncultivated archaea, the so-called archaeal ‘dark matter’, is able to provide unprecedented insights into the process of eukaryogenesis. Here, we provide an overview of state-of-the-art cultivation-independent approaches, and demonstrate how these methods were used to obtain draft genome sequences of several novel members of the TACK superphylum, including Lokiarchaeum, two representatives of the Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group (Bathyarchaeota), and a Korarchaeum-related lineage. The maturation of cultivation-independent genomics approaches, as well as future developments in next-generation sequencing technologies, will revolutionize our current view of microbial evolution and diversity, and provide profound new insights into the early evolution of life, including the enigmatic origin of the eukaryotic cell.
KW - Archaea
KW - Eukaryogenesis
KW - Metagenomics
KW - Microbial diversity
KW - Single-cell genomics
KW - Tree of life
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U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2014.0328
DO - 10.1098/rstb.2014.0328
M3 - Article
C2 - 26323759
AN - SCOPUS:84940706935
SN - 0962-8436
VL - 370
JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1678
M1 - 20140328
ER -