Leading a research lab with Elena Casacuberta. We aim to unravel how #protists evolved into multicellular animals.
#Multicellularity #Ichthyosporea #holozoans #filastereans #development #diversity #genomes #modelsystems
https://multicellgenome.com
Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo
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6/7
In the context of rampant LGT, a gene showing affinity to extant Myxococcota does not necessarily imply that an ancestor of Myxococcota directly interacted with pre-LECA ancestor.
The gene itself could have travelled through multiple microbial lineages long before reaching that population.
5/7
But this raises an important question.
When a LECA gene appears most closely related to present-day Myxococcota or Planctomycetota...
what exactly are we seeing?
A potential direct ecological interaction?
Or the footprint of a much older history of gene exchange?
3/7
The broader implication is intriguing.
Rather than a single symbiotic event, eukaryogenesis may have involved successive interactions with multiple microbial partners contributing genes and functions over evolutionary time.
2/7
By reconstructing the ancestry of thousands of protein families inferred to have been present in LECA, the authors detect signals from additional microbial groups beyond the canonical partners.
Among them:
-Myxococcota
-Planctomycetota
-And contributions associated with giant viruses.
1/7
We often picture eukaryogenesis as a symbiosis between two lineages: an archaeal host & the ancestor of mitochondria.
But what if the origin of eukaryotes emerged within a much more complex microbial ecosystem?
A fascinating study from @tonigabaldon.bsky.social et al. explores exactly this. 🧵
4/7
In that sense, this work resonates with ideas from Puri & David at @deemteam.bsky.social :
that the origin of eukaryotes may have involved a richer network of microbial interactions than traditionally assumed.
Perhaps the relevant ecological context was a community rather than a pair.
7/7
In any case, it is interesting to see how microbial communities generated, exchanged and redistributed evolutionary novelty long before the emergence of eukaryotes, resembling other transitions.
Congratulations to all authors on such a thought-provoking contribution!
