A Unifying Scenario on the Origin and Evolution of Cellular and Viral Domains
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- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333
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- Manuscript
- Date:
- Received 21 October 2009 18:50 UTC; Posted 23 October 2009
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- Genetics & Genomics, Immunology, Microbiology, Evolutionary Biology
- Abstract:
The cellular theory on the nature of life has been one of the first major advancements in biology. Viruses, however, are the most abundant life forms, and their exclusion from mainstream biology and the Tree of Life (TOL) is a major paradox in biology. This article presents a broad, unifying scenario on the origin and evolution of cellular and viral domains that challenges the conventional views about the history of life and supports a TOL that includes viruses. Co-evolution of viruses and their host cells has led to some of the most remarkable developments and transitions in the evolution of life, including the origin of non-coding DNA as a genomic protective device against viral insertion damage. However, one of the major fundamental evolutionary developments driven by viruses was probably the origin of cellular domains – Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya – from the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) lineage, by evolving anti-fusion mechanisms. Consistent with a novel fusion/fission model for the population mode of evolution of LUCA, this paper presents a “cell-like world” model for the origin of life. According to this model the evolution of coupled replication, transcription and translation system (RT&T) occurred within non-living cell-like compartments (CCs). In this model, the ancestral ribosome originated as template-based RNA synthesizing machinery. The origin of the cellular genome as a centralized unit for storage and replication of genetic information within the CCs facilitated the evolution of the ancestral ribosome into a powerful translation machinery – the modern ribosome. After several hundred millions of years of providing an enclosed environment and fusion/fission based exchanges necessary for the population mode of evolution of the basic metabolism and the RT&T, the CCs evolved into the first living entities on earth – the LUCA lineage. The paper concludes with a proposal for a TOL that integrates the co-evolution of cellular and viral domains. This is one of a series of three articles that present a unifying scenario on the origin and evolution of viral and cellular domains, including the origin of life, which has significant t bio-medical implications and could lead to a significant paradigm shift in biology.
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Bandea, Claudiu. A Unifying Scenario on the Origin and Evolution of Cellular and Viral Domains. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2009.3888.1> (2009)
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Claudiu Bandea on 23 October 2009 12:44 UTC
This is one of a series of three papers (1,2,3) that presents a broad, unifying scenario on the origin and evolution of cellular and viral domains, including the origin of life. This scenario challenges the current view about the history of life at the most fundamental level.
Briefly, the first paper, “The Origin and Evolution of Viruses as Molecular Organisms,” questions the current dogma of viruses as viral particles and presents an alternative view about their nature, origin, and evolution (1). In addition to its conceptual implications, the new view about the nature and evolution of viruses has immediate, specific biomedical applications. One of the most pragmatic, potential applications is in a field of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which is presented in the second paper, “Endogenous Viral Etiology of Prion Diseases” (2). The third paper, “A Unifying Scenario on the Origin and Evolution of Cellular and Viral Domains,” integrates the new view about the evolution and nature of viruses into a broad, unifying scenario for the evolutionary origin of cellular and viral domains, including the origin of life (3).
Because of the broad topics of these papers, over the last two years, I sent them for review to numerous scientists and research experts in various biomedical fields. As you can see in the Acknowledgements section of these papers, many of these scientists were kind enough to share their thoughts, for which I’m grateful. Here, I would like to address a common concern about the format and the presentation style of these papers.
As mentioned above, the topics addressed in this series are very broad. These topics have been discussed in thousands of publications presenting a myriad of novel ideas, models, and hypotheses. Although the papers in this series are exceedingly long, I could not address, or even mention or reference, many of these previous publications; obviously, this doesn’t do justice to their authors. My intent in this series was to focus on, and outline, what I thought represent novel interpretations, ideas, and models sustaining a broad, unifying scenario on the origin and evolution of cellular and viral domains; this approach might also explain the apparent dogmatic presentation style.
(1) Bandea, Claudiu. The Origin and Evolution of Viruses as Molecular Organisms. Available from Nature Precedings (http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2009.3886.1), 2009
(2) Bandea, Claudiu. Endogenous Viral Etiology of Prion Diseases. Available from Nature Precedings (http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2009.3887.1), 2009
(3) Bandea, Claudiu. A Unifying Scenario on the Origin and Evolution of Cellular and Viral Domains. Available from Nature Precedings (http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2009.3888.1), 2009