Abstract
A leaky membrane and a sodium transporter at life's great divergence.
Highlights
The deepest branch on the evolutionary tree is between bacteria and archaea
As logical as it is, this conclusion has met with much head-scratching among evolutionary biologists, since it suggests that last universal common ancestor (LUCA) itself did not possess a modern membrane
In this issue of PLOS Biology, Victor Sojo, Andrew Pomiankowski, and Nick Lane develop a mathematical model of bioenergetics in a LUCA-like cell, with a membrane lipid that could be a precursor of both types of modern membranes
Summary
The deepest branch on the evolutionary tree is between bacteria and archaea (eukaryotes arrived late, probably as a fusion of the two). A Leaky Membrane and a Sodium Transporter at Life’s Great Divergence In this issue of PLOS Biology, Victor Sojo, Andrew Pomiankowski, and Nick Lane develop a mathematical model of bioenergetics in a LUCA-like cell, with a membrane lipid that could be a precursor of both types of modern membranes.
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