Evolution of viruses and cells: do we need a fourth domain of life to explain the origin of eukaryotes?

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
David Moreira, Purificación López-García

Abstract

The recent discovery of diverse very large viruses, such as the mimivirus, has fostered a profusion of hypotheses positing that these viruses define a new domain of life together with the three cellular ones (Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya). It has also been speculated that they have played a key role in the origin of eukaryotes as donors of important genes or even as the structures at the origin of the nucleus. Thanks to the increasing availability of genome sequences for these giant viruses, those hypotheses are amenable to testing via comparative genomic and phylogenetic analyses. This task is made very difficult by the high evolutionary rate of viruses, which induces phylogenetic artefacts, such as long branch attraction, when inadequate methods are applied. It can be demonstrated that phylogenetic trees supporting viruses as a fourth domain of life are artefactual. In most cases, the presence of homologues of cellular genes in viruses is best explained by recurrent horizontal gene transfer from cellular hosts to their infecting viruses and not the opposite. Today, there is no solid evidence for the existence of a viral domain of life or for a significant implication of viruses in the origin of the cellular domains.

References

Nov 1, 1977·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·C R Woese, G E Fox
Jun 1, 1990·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·C R WoeseM L Wheelis
Mar 1, 1965·Journal of Theoretical Biology·E Zuckerkandl, L Pauling
Jan 1, 1981·Journal of Molecular Evolution·J Felsenstein
Sep 1, 1993·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·G LecointreH Le Guyader
Sep 17, 1996·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·A R Mushegian, E V Koonin
Oct 1, 1996·Trends in Genetics : TIG·G J Olsen, C R Woese
Mar 3, 1998·Trends in Microbiology·M W Gray, B F Lang
Mar 24, 1998·Nature·W Martin, M Müller
Oct 21, 1998·Journal of Theoretical Biology·K J Dawson
Jul 11, 2000·Journal of Virology·L P Villarreal, V R DeFilippis
Jul 20, 2000·Yeast·P A Haynes, J R Yates
Aug 12, 2000·Molecular Biology and Evolution·J W Stiller, B D Hall
Jul 10, 2001·Journal of Molecular Evolution·M Takemura
Aug 28, 2001·Journal of Molecular Evolution·P J Bell
Mar 1, 1997·Systematic Biology·J P Huelsenbeck
Oct 2, 2002·Current Opinion in Microbiology·Patrick Forterre
Jan 2, 2003·Nature Reviews. Genetics·Philip Awadalla
Mar 29, 2003·Science·Bernard La ScolaDidier Raoult
Jan 1, 1962·Archiv für Mikrobiologie·R Y STANIER, C B VAN NIEL
Dec 9, 2003·Trends in Microbiology·Edward C Holmes
Mar 12, 2004·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Nicolas Lartillot, Hervé Philippe
Mar 24, 2004·Nature Reviews. Microbiology·Eugene V Koonin
Sep 24, 2004·Trends in Microbiology·Laura A Shackelton, Edward C Holmes
Oct 16, 2004·Science·Didier RaoultJean-Michel Claverie
Jan 20, 2005·Biology of the Cell·Reyes R NovoaCristina Risco
May 12, 2005·Nature Reviews. Microbiology·Robert A Edwards, Forest Rohwer
May 21, 2005·Science·David Moreira, Purificación López-García
Oct 8, 2005·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Hervé PhilippeFrédéric Delsuc
Feb 24, 2006·Virus Research·Lakshminarayan M IyerL Aravind
Mar 1, 2006·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Patrick Forterre
Mar 31, 2006·Nature·T Martin Embley, William Martin
Apr 15, 2006·BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology·Purificación López-García, David Moreira
Nov 18, 2006·Trends in Genetics : TIG·Jonathan FiléeMick Chandler
Feb 10, 2007·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Nicolas LartillotHervé Philippe
May 24, 2007·Systematic Biology·Naiara Rodríguez-EzpeletaHervé Philippe
Jun 10, 1938·Science·R A Gortner
Jan 22, 2008·BMC Evolutionary Biology·David Moreira, Céline Brochier-Armanet
Jan 22, 2008·Research in Microbiology·Purificación López-García, David Moreira
Mar 6, 2008·Nature Reviews. Genetics·Siobain DuffyEdward C Holmes

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 22, 2016·Current Opinion in Microbiology·Matthias G Fischer
Feb 20, 2016·Current Opinion in Microbiology·Patrick Forterre, Morgan Gaïa
Apr 5, 2016·Current Opinion in Microbiology·Romain Blanc-Mathieu, Hiroyuki Ogata
Sep 2, 2015·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Tom A Williams, T Martin Embley
Feb 28, 2017·Nature Reviews. Microbiology·Philippe ColsonDidier Raoult
May 29, 2018·Microbes and Environments·Tomoko MiharaHiroyuki Ogata
Jan 11, 2018·Astrobiology·Aaron J BerlinerKenneth M Stedman
Aug 2, 2017·Annual Review of Virology·Philippe ColsonDidier Raoult
Sep 12, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Julien GuglielminiMorgan Gaia
Oct 16, 2019·History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences·Sávio Torres de FariasFrancisco Prosdocimi
Feb 7, 2018·Frontiers in Microbiology·Julien AndreaniBernard La Scola
Oct 7, 2018·Archives of Virology·Rodrigo Araújo Lima RodriguesJônatas Santos Abrahão
Jul 1, 2017·F1000Research·Elena Angela LusiPaolo Guarascio
Dec 13, 2018·Frontiers in Microbiology·Philippe ColsonDidier Raoult
Aug 9, 2016·Genome Biology and Evolution·Ajith HarishCharles Kurland
Sep 21, 2017·BMC Evolutionary Biology·P T S van der GulikD Speijer
Dec 14, 2018·F1000Research·Eugene V Koonin, Natalya Yutin
Mar 19, 2019·Journal of Experimental Botany·Aayushi ShuklaAnders Hafrén
Aug 30, 2019·Current Opinion in Genetics & Development·Alex de Mendoza, Arnau Sebé-Pedrós
Nov 8, 2020·Trends in Microbiology·Arshan NasirJean-Michel Claverie
Mar 20, 2021·Médecine sciences : M/S·Patrick Forterre, Morgan Gaia

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Archaeogenetics

Recent advances in genomic sequencing has led to the discovery of new strains of Archaea and shed light on their evolutionary history. Discover the latest research on Archaeogenetics here.