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Loki: The archaea questions on the tree of life

PQP

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April 2, 2023 at 5:30:00 AM

Loki: The archaea questions on the tree of life

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PQP

The Lokiarchaeota, single-celled archaea, are rewriting the fundamentals of the tree of life. That may lead to reshuffling the jigsaw puzzle to fit theories on the evolution of eukaryotes.
The Lokis id was revealed by sequencing the DNA of the microbial community obtained from the sea-floor muck near Greenland, 3000 meters below sea level. Deep analysis of Lokis DNA suggests that modern eukaryotes belong to the same archaeal group and carry genes that are considered the hallmarks of eukaryotes. The proposed name for the phylum, 'Lokiarchaeota,' is after a field of hydrothermal vent Loki's Castle.

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