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Concept

Last universal common ancestor

Related publications (19)

Energy-harnessing problem solving of primordial life: Modeling the emergence of catalytic host-nested parasite life cycles

Christian Iseli

All life forms on earth ultimately descended from a primordial population dubbed the last universal common ancestor or LUCA via Darwinian evolution. Extant living systems share two salient functional features, a metabolism extracting and transforming energ ...

2023

Modeling, analysis, and design of complex biological networks

Mohammadomid Oftadeh

Automating experimental procedures has resulted in an unprecedented increase in the volume of generated data, which, in turn, has caused an accumulation of unprocessed data. As a result, the need to develop tools to analyze data systematically has been ris ...

EPFL2023

Evolutionary history expands the range of signaling interactions in hybrid multikinase networks

Anne-Florence Raphaëlle Bitbol

Two-component systems (TCSs) are ubiquitous signaling pathways, typically comprising a sensory histidine kinase (HK) and a response regulator, which communicate via intermolecular kinase-to-receiver domain phosphotransfer. Hybrid HKs constitute non-canonic ...

NATURE RESEARCH2021

Barcoding analysis and taxonomic revision of Goliathus Lamarck, 1802 (Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae)

Michele De Palma

We conducted barcoding analysis of valid taxa in the genus Goliathus Lamarck, 1802 and clarified their relationships. Specimens of Goliathus goliatus (Drury, 1770) sampled in tropical rainforests from Cameroon to Kenya display degrees of genetic and phenot ...

2020

Excitation states of metabolic networks predict dose-response fingerprinting and ligand pulse phase signalling

Pierre Magistretti, Henry Markram, Felix Schürmann, Daniel Keller, Jay Coggan

With a computational model of energy metabolism in an astrocyte, we show how a system of enzymes in a cascade can act as a functional unit of interdependent reactions, rather than merely a series of independent reactions. These systems may exist in multipl ...

2020

Beyond silence : a functional and evolutionary study of KRAB zinc finger proteins

Pierre-Yves Joseph Laurent Helleboid

Transposable elements (TEs) are genetic units capable of spreading within the genomes of their host. TEs contribute a readily recognizable 45% of the human DNA, reflecting in part their co-option for some as source of protein-coding sequences, for others a ...

EPFL2019

Assimilation, translocation, and utilization of carbon between photosynthetic symbiotic dinoflagellates and their planktic foraminifera host

Anders Meibom, Emmanuelle Geslin, Charlotte Madeleine Nicole Lekieffre

Some species of planktic foraminifera inhabiting oligotrophic surface water environments are in an obligate symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellate microalgae, which can assimilate carbon (C) through photosynthesis. However, the mechanism and dynamics o ...

2018

KRAB zinc-finger proteins contribute to the evolution of gene regulatory networks

Didier Trono, Michaël Imbeault, Pierre-Yves Joseph Laurent Helleboid

The human genome encodes some 350 Kruppel-associated box (KRAB) domain-containing zinc-finger proteins (KZFPs), the products of a rapidly evolving gene family that has been traced back to early tetrapods(1,2). The function of most KZFPs is unknown, but a f ...

Nature Publishing Group2017

Estimating the Respective Contributions of Human and Viral Genetic Variation to HIV Control

Jacques Fellay, Paul Jack Mc Laren, Istvan Bartha

We evaluated the fraction of variation in HIV-1 set point viral load attributable to viral or human genetic factors by using joint host/pathogen genetic data from 541 HIV infected individuals. We show that viral genetic diversity explains 29% of the variat ...

Public Library of Science2017

Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli

Stewart Cole, Andrej Benjak, Charlotte Avanzi, Philippe Busso, Jérémie Piton

Leprosy, caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae or the recently discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis, was once endemic in humans in the British Isles. Red squirrels in Great Britain (Sciurus vulgaris) have increasingly been observed with leprosy-li ...

American Association for the Advancement of Science2016

Who Activates the Nucleophile in Ribozyme Catalysis? An Answer from the Splicing Mechanism of Group II Introns

Ursula Röthlisberger, Giulia Palermo

Group II introns are Mg2+-dependent ribozymes that are considered to be the evolutionary ancestors of the eukaryotic spliceosome, thus representing an ideal model system to understand the mechanism of conversion of premature messenger RNA (mRNA) into matur ...

2016

Insight into the evolution and origin of leprosy bacilli from the genome sequence of Mycobacterium lepromatosis

Stewart Cole, Andrej Benjak, Charlotte Avanzi, Philippe Busso, Pushpendra Singh

Mycobacterium lepromatosis is an uncultured human pathogen associated with diffuse lepromatous leprosy and a reactional state known as Lucio's phenomenon. By using deep sequencing with and without DNA enrichment, we obtained the near-complete genome sequen ...

National Academy of Sciences2015

Holocene changes in climate and land use drove shifts in the diversity of testate amoebae in a subalpine pond

Testate amoebae that inhabit peat are sensitive indicators of water table position. In this study, we used testate amoebae in sediments from a mire in the western Alps (Lac du Thyl) to: (1) reconstruct the hydrology of the site over the last 7,000 years, ( ...

Springer2013

A universal fluid cell for the imaging of biological specimens in the atomic force microscope

Giovanni Dietler, Sandor Kasas, Giovanni Longo, Livan Bladimir Alonso Sarduy, Charles Roduit

Recently, atomic force microscope (AFM) manufacturers have begun producing instruments specifically designed to image biological specimens. In most instances, they are integrated with an inverted optical microscope, which permits concurrent optical and AFM ...

Wiley-Blackwell2013

An ancestral regulatory mechanism underlies Hoxd gene expression in both developing genitals and digits

Nicolas Lonfat

Coordinated expression of HoxD cluster genes is crucial for the emergence and patterning of both developing digits and external genitalia. As a shared evolutionary origin has been proposed for these secondary structures, which may have accompanied the tran ...

EPFL2013

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Adult Midgut Compartmentalization in Drosophila

Bruno Lemaitre, Bart Deplancke, Jean Philippe Boquete, Dani Osman

Although the gut is a central organ of Eumetazoans and is essential for organismal health, our understanding of its morphological and molecular determinants remains rudimentary. Here, we provide a comprehensive atlas of Drosophila adult midgut. Specificall ...

Elsevier2013

Evolution of whole genomes through inversions : models and algorithms for duplicates, ancestors, and edit scenarios

Krister Swenson

Advances in sequencing technology are yielding DNA sequence data at an alarming rate – a rate reminiscent of Moore's law. Biologists' abilities to analyze this data, however, have not kept pace. On the other hand, the discrete and mechanical nature of the ...

EPFL2009

Characterization of APOBEC3G binding to 7SL RNA

Didier Trono, Bastien Mangeat

Human APOBEC3 proteins are editing enzymes that can interfere with the replication of exogenous retroviruses such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepadnaviruses such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), and with the retrotransposition of endogenous retroelem ...

2008

Extracellular polymeric substances affecting pore-scale hydrologic conditions for bacterial activity in unsaturated soils

Dani Or

Soil bacterial cells are often found embedded in biosynthesized extracellular polymeric substances ( EPS) forming aggregates or stationary colonies attached to solid surfaces. Soil bacterial aggregation and pooling of resources offer a successful adaptatio ...

2007