1
Q
LUCA
A
- Last universal common ancestor
- Darwin’s theory of evolution implied LUCA
- If all species derive from a single ancestor, drawing out the evolution of all species over time would create a tree shape with LUCA at the root of the tree
2
Q
Tree of Life
A
First diagram of relatedness in Darwin’s book
-Early trees based on their similarity to man (man at the top)
3
Q
Dark DNA
A
protein product or RNA transcript is found, but the DNA that codes for it cannot be found
4
Q
Circle of life
A
the progress of life should be seen more as a circle of related events
- accounts for historic horizontal gene transfer and endosymbiotic theory
- Does not account for modern horizontal gene transfer
5
Q
Coral of life
A
- Both horizontal and vertical gene transfer occurred during early evolutionary history.
- The relative importance of each has changed over time
- Some genes are so important to life that they are never swapped horizontally -> vertical transfer
6
Q
The 6 deadly sins of the tree of life
A
- Placement: Any species on the farthest branches of the tree are implied to be the most evolved (mammals and humans tend to be there)
- Under-represented prokaryotes (in reality there are many more prokaryotes to eukaryotes)
- Implying increasing complexity (myth: increasing diversity or complexity, The tree seems to suggest life is becoming more diverse over time)
- Minor and extinct species excluded
- Implies punctuated equilibrium (tree cannot be used to infer the WAY a species evolved)
- Aves is artificial (Birds are often listed as a separate group on the tree of life, but should be classified as dinosaurs)
7
Q
Supertree
A
a single phylogenetic tree which is assembled from other, smaller phylogenetic trees
-generally has to combine trees which are compiled from completely different datasets
8
Q
Rate of mutation
A
- Woese and Fox believed they could look at a single universal gene found in every species, and determine the relatedness of all species based on that single gene
- Over an average period of time, a fairly constant number of mutations occur for a specific region of DNA
- Some genes mutate faster than others
9
Q
Ancestral sequence reconstruction
A
- The determination of ancestral, extinct genes, through reverse engineering from modern species
- type of *synthetic biology
- Heat tolerance of LUCA
10
Q
Modern Development
A
- used the small subunit rRNA
- found in all life tested
- low and measurable mutation rate
- rarely transported through horizontal gene transfer
AEBI 212 final
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