Understanding Evolutionary Relationships in Ribosomal RNA
Author Information
Author(s): Muralidhara Chaitanya, Gross Andrew M., Gutell Robin R., Alter Orly
Primary Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Hypothesis
An organism's evolution is composed of multiple pathways due to concurrent forces acting independently on different rRNA degrees of freedom.
Conclusion
The study reveals that evolutionary relationships among organisms cannot be described by a single hierarchy, as they involve multiple pathways of convergence and divergence.
Supporting Evidence
- The significant eigenpositions reveal multiple similarities and dissimilarities among taxonomic groups.
- Eigenorganisms identify nucleotide insertions or deletions conserved within corresponding groups.
- Two previously unknown coexisting subgenic relationships between Microsporidia and Archaea were revealed.
Takeaway
This study shows that the way organisms evolve is more complicated than just one path; there are many different ways they can change over time.
Methodology
The study used tensor decomposition to analyze 16S and 23S rRNA sequence alignments from various organisms.
Participant Demographics
The study analyzed rRNA sequences from 339 organisms including Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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