The origin of organisms with complex cells, known as eukaryotes, is one of biology’s biggest mysteries. A new discovery helps reveal these evolutionary roots
, a blob-shaped organism with short tendrils, from rock formations in northern China. These early eukaryotes look more primitive and may have lived before LECA.
Steranes are plentiful in rocks from the last 800 million years, but they have not been detected in older rocks. On face value, this looks like evidence that there were few eukaryotes before 800 million years ago, which flies in the face of the fossil and genetic evidence. This approach enables researchers to look at the “evolutionary development or precursors” of sterols, says, a palaeobotanist at Boston College in Massachusetts, who was not involved in the study. “To me that is a big step forward.”
“When very independent lines start matching up, then you know that you’ve probably got a very accurate record,” says Mitchell.The new story goes like this. Eukaryotes first evolve at least 1.6 billion years ago, possibly as early as two billion years ago. They use the primordial sterols in their outer membranes. A crucial step occurs where some eukaryotes evolve to use modern sterols, and by 800 million years ago, those organisms had taken over.
Nettersheim’s team suggests instead that the early eukaryotes dominated prehistoric ecosystems, and modern eukaryotes could only flourish and diversify when this earlier population died out. Modern sterols help eukaryotes adjust to stresses like dehydration and cold shock, so it may be that the more developed cells were better suited to survive a period of environmental stress.
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