Domain Cell Theory supports the independent evolution of the Eukarya, Bacteria and Archaea and the Nuclear Compartment Commonality hypothesis

• Main Author: James T. Staley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2017-01-01
• Series: Open Biology
• Subjects: evolution; cell theory; tree of life
• Online Access: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsob.170041

In 2015, the Royal Society of London held a meeting to discuss the various hypotheses regarding the origin of the Eukarya. Although not all participants supported a hypothesis, the proposals that did fit into two broad categories: one group favoured ‘Prokaryotes First’ hypotheses and another addressed ‘Eukaryotes First’ hypotheses. Those who proposed Prokaryotes First hypotheses advocated either a fusion event between a bacterium and an archaeon that produced the first eukaryote or the direct evolution of the Eukarya from the Archaea. The Eukaryotes First proponents posit that the eukaryotes evolved initially and then, by reductive evolution, produced the Bacteria and Archaea. No mention was made of another previously published hypothesis termed the Nuclear Compartment Commonality (NuCom) hypothesis, which proposed the evolution of the Eukarya and Bacteria from nucleated ancestors (Staley 2013 Astrobiol Outreach 1, 105 (doi:10.4172/2332-2519.1000105)). Evidence from two studies indicates that the nucleated Planctomycetes–Verrucomicrobia–Chlamydia superphylum members are the most ancient Bacteria known (Brochier & Philippe 2002 Nature 417, 244 (doi:10.1038/417244a); Jun et al. 2010 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 133–138 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0913033107)). This review summarizes the evidence for the NuCom hypothesis and discusses how simple the NuCom hypothesis is in explaining eukaryote evolution relative to the other hypotheses. The philosophical importance of simplicity and its relationship to truth in hypotheses such as NuCom and Domain Cell Theory is presented. Domain Cell Theory is also proposed herein, which contends that each of the three cellular lineages of life, the Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya domains, evolved independently, in support of the NuCom hypothesis. All other proposed hypotheses violate Domain Cell Theory because they posit the evolution of different cellular descendants from ancestral cellular types.