Did Viruses Evolve As a Distinct Supergroup from Common Ancestors of Cells?
Genome Biol Evol
; 8(8): 2474-81, 2016 08 27.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27497315
ABSTRACT
The evolutionary origins of viruses according to marker gene phylogenies, as well as their relationships to the ancestors of host cells remains unclear. In a recent article Nasir and Caetano-Anollés reported that their genome-scale phylogenetic analyses based on genomic composition of protein structural-domains identify an ancient origin of the "viral supergroup" (Nasir et al. 2015. A phylogenomic data-driven exploration of viral origins and evolution. Sci Adv. 1(8)e1500527.). It suggests that viruses and host cells evolved independently from a universal common ancestor. Examination of their data and phylogenetic methods indicates that systematic errors likely affected the results. Reanalysis of the data with additional tests shows that small-genome attraction artifacts distort their phylogenomic analyses, particularly the location of the root of the phylogenetic tree of life that is central to their conclusions. These new results indicate that their suggestion of a distinct ancestry of the viral supergroup is not well supported by the evidence.
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Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Vírus
/
Evolução Molecular
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Genome Biol Evol
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
/
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article