Were eukaryotes made by sex?: Sex might have been vital for merging endosymbiont and host genomes giving rise to eukaryotes

Michael Brandeis

doi:10.1002/bies.202000256

Were eukaryotes made by sex? Sex might have been vital for merging endosymbiont and host genomes giving rise to eukaryotes

Michael Brandeis^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Genetics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

I hypothesize that the appearance of sex facilitated the merging of the endosymbiont and host genomes during early eukaryote evolution. Eukaryotes were formed by symbiosis between a bacterium that entered an archaeon, eventually giving rise to mitochondria. This entry was followed by the gradual transfer of most bacterial endosymbiont genes into the archaeal host genome. I argue that the merging of the mitochondrial genes into the host genome was vital for the evolution of genuine eukaryotes. At the time this process commenced it was unprecedented and required a novel mechanism. I suggest that this mechanism was meiotic sex, and that its appearance might have been THE crucial step that enabled the evolution of proper eukaryotes from early endosymbiont containing proto-eukaryotes. Sex might continue to be essential today for keeping genome insertions in check. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/aVMvWMpomac.

Original language	American English
Article number	2000256
Journal	BioEssays
Volume	43
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202000256
State	Published - Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Aharon Razin Raphael Falk, Ariel Darvasi and Angelika Amon who passed away recently and whose science and life have been of great inspiration. I am grateful to Avi Shmida for introducing me to the magic world of plants and for extensive and enlightening discussions. I would like further to thank my student Aya Evron and my teachers and colleagues Dan Cohen, Giora Simchen, Amos Panet and Uzi Motro for fruitful conversations on meiosis, sex, and evolution. Work in my lab has been funded by the ISF, BSF,GIF, AICR, and ICRF.

Funding Information:
This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Aharon Razin Raphael Falk, Ariel Darvasi and Angelika Amon who passed away recently and whose science and life have been of great inspiration. I am grateful to Avi Shmida for introducing me to the magic world of plants and for extensive and enlightening discussions. I would like further to thank my student Aya Evron and my teachers and colleagues Dan Cohen, Giora Simchen, Amos Panet and Uzi Motro for fruitful conversations on meiosis, sex, and evolution. Work in my lab has been funded by the ISF, BSF,GIF, AICR, and ICRF.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC

Keywords

endosymbiosis
eukaryogenesis
evolution of sex
meiosis
mitochondrial DNA

Access to Document

10.1002/bies.202000256

Cite this

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title = "Were eukaryotes made by sex?: Sex might have been vital for merging endosymbiont and host genomes giving rise to eukaryotes",

abstract = "I hypothesize that the appearance of sex facilitated the merging of the endosymbiont and host genomes during early eukaryote evolution. Eukaryotes were formed by symbiosis between a bacterium that entered an archaeon, eventually giving rise to mitochondria. This entry was followed by the gradual transfer of most bacterial endosymbiont genes into the archaeal host genome. I argue that the merging of the mitochondrial genes into the host genome was vital for the evolution of genuine eukaryotes. At the time this process commenced it was unprecedented and required a novel mechanism. I suggest that this mechanism was meiotic sex, and that its appearance might have been THE crucial step that enabled the evolution of proper eukaryotes from early endosymbiont containing proto-eukaryotes. Sex might continue to be essential today for keeping genome insertions in check. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/aVMvWMpomac.",

keywords = "endosymbiosis, eukaryogenesis, evolution of sex, meiosis, mitochondrial DNA",

author = "Michael Brandeis",

note = "Funding Information: This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Aharon Razin Raphael Falk, Ariel Darvasi and Angelika Amon who passed away recently and whose science and life have been of great inspiration. I am grateful to Avi Shmida for introducing me to the magic world of plants and for extensive and enlightening discussions. I would like further to thank my student Aya Evron and my teachers and colleagues Dan Cohen, Giora Simchen, Amos Panet and Uzi Motro for fruitful conversations on meiosis, sex, and evolution. Work in my lab has been funded by the ISF, BSF,GIF, AICR, and ICRF. Funding Information: This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Aharon Razin Raphael Falk, Ariel Darvasi and Angelika Amon who passed away recently and whose science and life have been of great inspiration. I am grateful to Avi Shmida for introducing me to the magic world of plants and for extensive and enlightening discussions. I would like further to thank my student Aya Evron and my teachers and colleagues Dan Cohen, Giora Simchen, Amos Panet and Uzi Motro for fruitful conversations on meiosis, sex, and evolution. Work in my lab has been funded by the ISF, BSF,GIF, AICR, and ICRF. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC",

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