A new study has been done to show
that viruses share their genes across the three super kingdoms of life –
bacteria, archaea, and eukarya, and most of this sharing is typically done between
the eukaryoa and bacteria kingdom. Within this new study, scientists have found
that some genes exclusively share some of their genes with cells that are NOT
their hosts. How? The answer is simple, they are livening within these
communities but not harming them!
A team of
scientists used bioinformatics to analyze the genomes of organisms and viruses
that infect them, and rather than focusing on their genetic sequence, they
examined the functional components of proteins (folds) instead. Each of these
folds has a unique 3D structure that performs a specific operation, and because
these are so critical to the protein function, they remain stable even as the
sequences change. Researchers were able to find hundreds of folds present
across all the super kingdoms which suggest that they came from an ancient
ancestor. The data found also points to
other, unknown, mechanisms that allow viruses to exchange genetic material with
cells.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171206122423.htm
https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/the-three-domains-of-life/
That is incredible I usually view the three domains as three separate entities but this muddies the water, to think that we can share genes with bacteria and archeabacteria just from transduction, does this mean that transduction can occur in eukaryotes as well?
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