LUCA to LECA, the Lucacene: A model for the gigayear delay from the first prokaryote to eukaryogenesis

George E Mikhailovsky; Richard Gordon

doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104415

LUCA to LECA, the Lucacene: A model for the gigayear delay from the first prokaryote to eukaryogenesis

Biosystems. 2021 Jul:205:104415. doi: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104415. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Authors

George E Mikhailovsky¹, Richard Gordon²

Affiliations

¹ Global Mind Share, 878 W Ocean View Ave., Norfolk, VA, 23503, USA. Electronic address: gmikhai@yahoo.com.
² Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, 222 Clark Drive, Panacea, FL, 32346, USA; C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth & Development, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Wayne State University, 275 E. Hancock, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA. Electronic address: DickGordonCan@xplornet.ca.

PMID: 33812918
DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104415

Abstract

It is puzzling why life on Earth consisted of prokaryotes for up to 2.5 ± 0.5 billion years (Gy) before the appearance of the first eukaryotes. This period, from LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) to LECA (Last Eucaryotic Common Ancestor), we have named the Lucacene, to suggest all prokaryotic descendants of LUCA before the appearance of LECA. Here we present a simple model based on horizontal gene transfer (HGT). It is the process of HGT from Bacteria to Archaea and its reverse that we wish to simulate and estimate its duration until eukaryogenesis. Rough quantitation of its parameters shows that the model may explain the long duration of the Lucacene.

Keywords: Eukaryogenesis; LECA; LUCA; Lucacene.

MeSH terms

Archaea / genetics*
Bacteria / genetics*
Biological Evolution*
Computer Simulation
Eukaryota / genetics*
Gene Transfer, Horizontal*
Models, Biological*
Mutation
Systems Biology*
Time Factors