Chinese researchers have uncovered that eukaryotes originated around 2.72 billion years ago, earlier than the Great Oxidation Event, providing valuable insights into the evolutionary history of eukaryotes.
The findings were published in Nature on Wednesday.
The research team, composed of scientists from the East China Normal University, spent six years collecting sediment samples from salt marshes and mangrove wetlands across China.
Using techniques in computational biology, the team found that eukaryotes evolved before the diversification of all sampled Heimdallarchaeia.
A previous study suggested that eukaryotes are nested within Heimdallarchaeia, but their exact phylogenetic placement within Asgard archaea remains controversial.
This is a big deal. The emergence of eukaryotes may be more important to our biological story than the emergence of life.
Some have suggested (I saw it on PBS Spacetime) that eukaryotic evolution is the “great filter” that prevents civilizations and explains the Fermi paradox. Perhaps the universe is filled to the lid with slimes and bacteria, with complex cells being vanishingly rare or maybe unique.
Tell me more!