Diversification of giant and large eukaryotic dsDNA viruses predated the origin of modern eukaryotes
Abstract
The viruses from the Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Virus (NCLDV) assemblage regularly draw the attention of the scientific community for their surprising features, from the gigantism of some viruses' particles to their genome content. They shook the very definition of viruses and shed new light on the debate over their nature and putative role in the evolution of the cellular domains. Their origin(s) and evolution remain to be elucidated, however. Our phylogenetic analyses reveal the evolutionary relationships between the NCLDV families and their origin from a common ancestor, from which they diversified before the origin of modern eukaryotes. Our results also point to their likely role in the emergence of multiple DNA-dependent RNA polymerases in proto-eukaryotes.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- September 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1912006116
- Bibcode:
- 2019PNAS..11619585G