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Opinion: Genetic Conflict With Mobile Elements Drives Eukaryotic Genome Evolution, and Perhaps Also Eukaryogenesis
Adena B Collens1, Laura A Katz1,2
1Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
The Journal of Heredity
|February 4, 2021
Summary
Mobile genetic elements and epigenetic regulation may have driven the evolution of dynamic eukaryotic genomes and the origin of eukaryotes. These mechanisms likely shaped the distinction between germline and somatic DNA in the last eukaryotic common ancestor.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Eukaryotic genomes are dynamic and utilize epigenetic mechanisms to differentiate germline DNA from somatic DNA.
- Eukaryotic genomes frequently interact with mobile genetic elements (MGEs), including viruses and transposable elements (TEs), leading to genetic conflict.
- Epigenetic mechanisms play a crucial role in regulating MGEs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To hypothesize that genetic conflict with MGEs contributed to the evolution of dynamic eukaryotic genomes.
- To propose that MGEs and epigenetics may have been drivers in the evolution of the first eukaryotic common ancestor (FECA).
- To explore the role of sex (meiosis) in establishing germline-soma distinctions and resetting the germline genome.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of diverse microeukaryotes to understand genome dynamics.
- Synthesis of existing knowledge on epigenetic mechanisms, MGEs, and genetic conflict.
- Integration of these concepts to formulate evolutionary hypotheses.
Main Results:
- Hypothesis that genetic conflict with MGEs contributed to the evolution of dynamic eukaryotic genomes in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA).
- Postulation that MGEs and epigenetics may have been drivers in eukaryogenesis (evolution of FECA).
- Sex (meiosis) may have evolved as a mechanism to reset the germline genome by regulating/eliminating somatic genetic material.
Conclusions:
- Genetic conflict with MGEs, regulated by epigenetics, is proposed as a significant factor in eukaryotic genome evolution.
- This framework expands hypotheses on eukaryogenesis by integrating MGEs and epigenetics.
- The evolution of germline-soma distinctions and sex is linked to managing genomic conflicts and maintaining genome integrity.
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