ArticleNature microbiology2019
Proposal of the reverse flow model for the origin of the eukaryotic cell based on comparative analyses of Asgard archaeal metabolism.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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108 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 202 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Article
- Host-initiated microbial association leads to stable ectosymbiosis in an ecological model.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Phylogenetic reconciliation supports a methanogenic ancestor of the Archaea and a derived origin for host-associated lineages.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- New lineages provide insights into the convergent evolution of extreme salt adaptation within symbiotic Archaea.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Ecological drivers of Promethearchaeati's specialization for deep subsurface environments.Communications biology · 2026Review
- Article
- The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Asgard archaea: have we found our microbial ancestors?The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Article
- Microcompartments in archaeal ancestors of eukaryotes: a bioenergetic engine that could have fuelled eukaryogenesis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Eukaryogenesis From FECA to LECA: Radical Steps Along the Way.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Tracing the evolutionary pathway: on the origin of mitochondria and eukaryogenesis.The FEBS journal · 2025Article
- Article
- Phylogenomic Analyses Reveal that Panguiarchaeum Is a Clade of Genome-Reduced Asgard Archaea Within the Njordarchaeia.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- A diverse Palaeoproterozoic microbial ecosystem implies early eukaryogenesis.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Evidence of microbial reductive dehalogenation in deep-sea cold seeps and its implications for biogeochemical cycles.Microbiome · 2025Article
- Candidatus List No. 6.International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology · 2025Article
48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The origin of eukaryotes represents an unresolved puzzle in evolutionary biology. Current research suggests that eukaryotes evolved from a merger between a host of archaeal descent and an alphaproteobacterial endosymbiont. The discovery of the Asgard archaea, a proposed archaeal superphylum that includes Lokiarchaeota, Thorarchaeota, Odinarchaeota and Heimdallarchaeota suggested to comprise the closest archaeal relatives of eukaryotes, has helped to elucidate the identity of the putative archaeal host. Whereas Lokiarchaeota are assumed to employ a hydrogen-dependent metabolism, little is known about the metabolic potential of other members of the Asgard superphylum. We infer the central metabolic pathways of Asgard archaea using comparative genomics and phylogenetics to be able to refine current models for the origin of eukaryotes. Our analyses indicate that Thorarchaeota and Lokiarchaeota encode proteins necessary for carbon fixation via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and for obtaining reducing equivalents from organic substrates. By contrast, Heimdallarchaeum LC2 and LC3 genomes encode enzymes potentially enabling the oxidation of organic substrates using nitrate or oxygen as electron acceptors. The gene repertoire of Heimdallarchaeum AB125 and Odinarchaeum indicates that these organisms can ferment organic substrates and conserve energy by coupling ferredoxin reoxidation to respiratory proton reduction. Altogether, our genome analyses suggest that Asgard representatives are primarily organoheterotrophs with variable capacity for hydrogen consumption and production. On this basis, we propose the 'reverse flow model', an updated symbiogenetic model for the origin of eukaryotes that involves electron or hydrogen flow from an organoheterotrophic archaeal host to a bacterial symbiont.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.