A non-hyperthermophilic ancestor for Bacteria (original) (raw)

Phylogeny

Nature volume 417, page 244 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The first phyla that emerge in the tree of life based on ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences are hyperthermophilic, which led to the hypothesis that the universal ancestor, and possibly the original living organism, was hyperthermophilic1. Here we reanalyse the bacterial phylogeny based on rRNA using a more reliable approach, and find that hyperthermophilic bacteria (such as Aquificales and Thermotogales) do not emerge first, suggesting that the Bacteria had a non-hyperthermophilic ancestor. It seems that Planctomycetales, a phylum with numerous peculiarities, could be the first emerging bacterial group.

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Figure 1: Prokaryotic phylogenetic tree based on conserved positions in ribosomal RNA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Phylogénie, Bioinformatique et Génome, UMR 7622 CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 9 quai St Bernard, Paris, 75005, France
    Céline Brochier & Hervé Philippe

Authors

  1. Céline Brochier
  2. Hervé Philippe

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Correspondence toHervé Philippe.

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Brochier, C., Philippe, H. A non-hyperthermophilic ancestor for Bacteria.Nature 417, 244 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/417244a

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