Chlamydial contribution to anaerobic metabolism during eukaryotic evolution.

ABSTRACT: The origin of eukaryotes is a major open question in evolutionary biology. Multiple hypotheses posit that eukaryotes likely evolved from a syntrophic relationship between an archaeon and an alphaproteobacterium based on H₂ exchange. However, there are no strong indications that modern eukaryotic H₂ metabolism originated from archaea or alphaproteobacteria. Here, we present evidence for the origin of H₂ metabolism genes in eukaryotes from an ancestor of the Anoxychlamydiales-a group of anaerobic chlamydiae, newly described here, from marine sediments. Among Chlamydiae, these bacteria uniquely encode genes for H₂ metabolism and other anaerobiosis-associated pathways. Phylogenetic analyses of several components of H₂ metabolism reveal tha

SUBMITTER: Stairs CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7449678 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature