Actinobacteria as the Base of the Evolutionary Tree

Actinobacteria as the Base of the Evolutionary Tree

Ever since Darwin first published The Origin of the Species, scientists have been striving to identify a last universal common ancestor of all living species. Paleontological, biochemical, and genomic studies have produced conflicting versions of the evolutionary tree. Now a team of researchers has developed a novel method to search the vast archives of known gene sequences to identify and compare similar proteins across the many kingdoms of life. Using the comparisons to quantify the evolutionary closeness of different species, the researchers have identified Actinobacteria, a group of single membrane bacteria that include common soil and water life forms, as the base of the evolutionary tree.

They will present their findings at the American Crystallographic Association’s annual meeting, held July 28 – August 1 in Boston.