遗传 ›› 2020, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (10): 929-948.doi: 10.16288/j.yczz.20-107

• 综述 • 上一篇    下一篇

真核生物起源研究进展

高志伟1(), 王龙2()   

  1. 1. 南京大学匡亚明学院,南京 210023
    2. 南京大学生命科学学院,医药生物技术国家重点实验室,南京 210023
  • 收稿日期:2020-04-18 修回日期:2020-05-06 出版日期:2020-10-20 发布日期:2020-05-25
  • 通讯作者: 王龙 E-mail:171240503@smail.nju.edu.cn;wanglong@nju.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:高志伟,在读本科生,专业方向:生物化学与分子生物学。E-mail: 171240503@smail.nju.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金项目资助编号(31970236)

Progress in elucidating the origin of eukaryotes

Zhiwei Gao1(), Long Wang2()   

  1. 1. Kuang Yaming Honors School, Nanjing University, Nanjing210023, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  • Received:2020-04-18 Revised:2020-05-06 Online:2020-10-20 Published:2020-05-25
  • Contact: Wang Long E-mail:171240503@smail.nju.edu.cn;wanglong@nju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No(31970236)

摘要:

作为重大进化谜题,真核生物起源的研究对于解码真核基因组、阐释真核细胞内部结构之间的关系有重要启示作用。在1977年美国微生物学家Carl Woese发现古细菌并提出三域生命之树之后,大量研究显示古细菌与真核生物在进化上存在着密切联系。21世纪以来,系统发育分析方法不断改进,泉古菌门(Crenarchaeota)、广古菌门(Euryarchaeota)之外与真核生物更加相似的新古细菌门类也相继被发现,这些证据更加支持将真核生物与古细菌合并为一域,形成二域生命之树。目前,通过宏基因组技术发现的Asgard古细菌是与真核生物进化距离最近的原核生物。然而,真核生物祖先的身份以及线粒体起源的时间等核心问题仍是学术界争论的焦点。本文结合近年来国内外研究成果,从生命之树的形态变化与真核生物演变的具体机制两个角度梳理了目前对真核生物起源的认知过程、现有水平和研究前景,以期为揭示真核生物起源进程的后续研究提供参考与指引。

关键词: 真核生物起源, 生命之树, 古细菌, 三域, 二域, 内共生, 线粒体, Asgard超门

Abstract:

Knowledge of the origin of eukaryotes is key to broadening our understanding of the eukaryotic genome and the relationship among internal structures within a eukaryotic cell. Since the discovery of archaea in 1977 and the proposal of three-domain tree of life by the American microbiologist Carl Woese, the intimate relationship in evolution between eukaryotes and archaea has been demonstrated by considerable experiments and analyses. From the beginning of the 21st century, with the development of phylogenetic methods and the discovery of new archaeal phyla more related to eukaryotes, increasing evidence has shown that Eukarya and Archaea should be merged into one domain, leading to a two-domain tree of life. Nowadays, the Asgard superphylum discovered via metagenomic analysis is regarded as the closest prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Nevertheless, several key questions are still under debate, such as what the ancestors of the eukaryotes were and when mitochondria emerged. Here, we review the current research progress regarding the changes of the tree of life and the detailed eukaryotic evolutionary mechanism. We show that the recent findings have greatly improved our knowledge on the origin of eukaryotes, which will pave the way for future studies.

Key words: eukaryogenesis, tree of life, archaea, three domains, two domains, endosymbiosis, mitochondria, Asgard superphylum