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Eukaryotes, Appearance and Early Evolution of

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

Eukaryotes are the organisms belonging to the phylogenetic domain Eucarya. Eukaryotic cells are less diverse than prokaryotes (phylogenetic domains Archaea and Bacteria) metabolically, but have a complex cellular architecture comprising a nucleus, a cytoskeleton (a proteinaceous network structuring the cytoplasm to facilitate intracellular traffic, endo- and exocytosis, and amoeboid locomotion), an endomembrane system (a system of internal membranes subdivided into several organelles and used for synthesis, processing, packaging, and transport of macromolecules such as lipids and proteins), and organelles such as mitochondria (or derived organelles) and chloroplasts in photosynthetic eukaryotes.

Overview

Unicellular eukaryotes are called protists. They are very diverse and occur in all the supergroups of the eukaryotic tree (Baldauf 2008). Multicellular eukaryotes include fungi, animals, and plants. At present, the origin of the domain Eucarya is still unresolved. Several...

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References and Further Reading

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Palaeobiogeology-Palaeobotany-Palaeopalynology, University of Liège, 17 allée du 6 Août B18, Sart-Tilman, Liège, 4000, Belgique

    Emmanuelle J. Javaux

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  1. Emmanuelle J. Javaux
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Correspondence to Emmanuelle J. Javaux .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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Javaux, E.J. (2014). Eukaryotes, Appearance and Early Evolution of. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_538-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_538-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Eukaryotes, Appearance and Early Evolution of
    Published:
    05 October 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_538-4

  2. Original

    Eukaryotes, Appearance and Early Evolution of
    Published:
    25 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_538-3

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