Palmer, J.D., Baldauf, S.L. and Doolittle, W.F. (1996) The root of the universal tree and the origin of eukaryotes based on elongation factor phylogeny. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. pp. 7749-7754. ISSN 1091-6490
Abstract
The genes for the protein synthesis elongation factors Tu (EF-Tu) and G (EF-G) are the products of an ancient gene duplication, which appears to predate the divergence of all extant organismal lineages. Thus, it should be possible to root a universal phylogeny based on either protein using the second protein as an outgroup. This approach was originally taken independently with two separate gene duplication pairs, (i) the regulatory and catalytic subunits of the proton ATPases and (ii) the protein synthesis elongation factors EF-Tu and EF-G. Questions about the orthology of the ATPase genes have obscured the former results, and the elongation factor data have been criticized for inadequate taxonomic representation and alignment errors. We have expanded the latter analysis using a broad representation of taxa from all three domains of life. All phylogenetic methods used strongly place the root of the universal tree between two highly distinct groups, the archaeons/eukaryotes and the eubacteria. We also find that a combined data set of EF-Tu and EF-G sequences favors placement of the eukaryotes within the Archaea, as the sister group to the Crenarchaeota. This relationship is supported by bootstrap values of 60-89% with various distance and maximum likelihood methods, while unweighted parsimony gives 58% support for archaeal monophyly.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Copyright © 1996 by the National Academy of Sciences |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Biology (York) |
Depositing User: | Repository Officer |
Date Deposited: | 29 Jun 2005 |
Last Modified: | 28 Oct 2024 00:47 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:530 |