Hoogsteen, Artemis (2023) Exploring different methods of determining the properties of the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.
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Abstract
The tree of life shows how all species are related. If it’s traced back far enough, it shows that all organisms are related to a single common ancestor, which stands at the root of the tree of life. This organism is referred to as LUCA, the last universal common ancestor. Understanding LUCA is important for understanding the origin of life and early evolution. To unravel LUCA’s properties, several approaches to constructing the tree of life were discussed and the results were compared to determine LUCA’s most likely properties. I concluded that LUCA was a community of progenotes, that used both RNA and DNA to transcribe several proteins and store genetic information. It lived in alkaline hydrothermal vents, which provided a suitable temperature and enough chemical potential to produce energy without the need to evolve a complex metabolism. It was an anaerobic autotroph with a metabolism that used the acetyl-CoA pathway and relied on its environmental conditions to produce ATP.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Kuipers, O.P. |
| Degree programme: | Biology |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jan 2023 09:46 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jan 2023 09:46 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/29156 |
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