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Search for a Methanopyrus-proximal last universal common ancestor based on comparative-genomic analysis

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Abstract

The origin of life is a long-standing mystery puzzling many people. This mystery possesses not only philosophical but also important biological significance. To unveil this mystery, the searches for the root of life, or the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), based on comparative-genomic analysis have been intensively performed on rRNAs, tRNAs and proteins sequences. The current search pointed to a Methanopyrus-proximal LUCA, which opens up the reconstruction of Lucan biology and helps to delineate the evolutionary pathways.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Zhiliang Yu

  2. Applied Genomics Center, Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, and Department of Biochemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China

    Zhiliang Yu

  3. Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University College of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China

    Shanxiang Xu

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  1. Zhiliang Yu
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  2. Shanxiang Xu
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Correspondence to Zhiliang Yu.

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Yu, Z., Xu, S. Search for a Methanopyrus-proximal last universal common ancestor based on comparative-genomic analysis. Ann Microbiol 61, 397–401 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-010-0154-9

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