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Does endo-symbiosis explain the origin of the nucleus?

Nature Cell Biology volume 3, page E173 (2001)Cite this article

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Horiike et al.1 found that yeast proteins involved in transcription, translation, DNA replication and the like are more similar to archaebacterial homologues, whereas those involved in metabolism are more similar to eubacterial homologues. They conclude that such findings “strongly support” the notion of an origin of eukaryotic nuclei through endosymbiosis of an archaebacterium in a eubacterial host1. Their observations are valid but the inferences about cell evolution drawn from them are flawed.

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  1. Institute of Botany III, Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätstrasse 1, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany

    Carmen Rotte & William Martin

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  1. Carmen Rotte
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  2. William Martin
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Rotte, C., Martin, W. Does endo-symbiosis explain the origin of the nucleus?. Nat Cell Biol 3, E173 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35087104

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