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MBE Advance Access published online on June 26, 2006
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msl046
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted June 13, 2006

Letter

Evidence that the Root of the Tree of Life is not within the Archaea

Ryan G. Skophammer 1, Craig W. Herbold 2, Maria C. Rivera 1, Jacqueline A. Servin 2, and James A. Lake 3 *

1 Department of MCD Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; UCLA Astrobiology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
2 Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; UCLA Astrobiology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
3 Department of MCD Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; UCLA Astrobiology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
James A. Lake, E-mail: Lake(at)mbi.ucla.edu


  Abstract

The Archaea occupy uncommon and extreme habitats around the world. They manufacture unusual compounds, utilize novel metabolic pathways, and contain many unique genes. Many suspect, due to their novel properties, that the root of the tree of life may be within the Archaea, although there is little direct evidence for this root. Here, using gene insertions and deletions found within protein synthesis factors present in all prokaryotes and eukaryotes, we present statistically significant evidence that the root of life is outside the Archaea.

Keywords: Tree of life; Root; Indels; Archaea; Cenancestor.
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