Summary of 'Climbing Earth's Tree of Life': Genomics and Evolution

This research summary focuses on the increasing role of genomics in understanding and arranging the Tree of Life, which illustrates the evolutionary relationships between all species. It highlights how scientists have organized the genomes of approximately 4000 species, examining bacteria and microorganisms to gather genetic information that reveals evolutionary connections. The study uses yeast gene functions as a model for eukaryotes and aims to identify genes as good or poor predictors of phylogeny, establishing principles applicable to other clades, such as mammalian trees of life. Evaluating these evolutionary relationships is crucial for maintaining ecosystem balance, as life is genetically interconnected through a vast phylogenetic tree, reflecting shared ancestry. Phylogenetics and the Tree of Life provide a framework for molecular evolution, offering a better understanding of life's evolution and origins, where lineages evolve and basal taxa remain unbranched, while sister taxa represent the closest relatives on the evolutionary tree.

Biology

Futurity
Twig By Twig, Climbing Earth’s ‘Tree Of Life’
Summary
The research has depicted the increasing power of genomics to correctly arrange and untangle
the branches of Trees of Life. Tree of life shows the evolutionary relationship between all the
species in the world. The research explains how the scientists have arranged the genomes of
around 4000 species. Bacteria and other microorganism were examined for collecting genetic
information which shows the evolutionary relationships (Salisbury-VU, 2009). The gene
functions of yeasts were taken because it can be used to examine any eukaryote. The main
objective of the research is to determine genes as good and poor predictors of the phylogeny.
It is also done to determine principles which can be applied to other clades such as trees of
life of mammals.
The determination and evaluation of evolutionary relationships of the organisms are
considered to be very much important because they play a significant role in creating a
balance within the ecosystem. The life is connected genetically through a large phylogenetic
tree just like there was an ancestor of humans. The shared ancestral character can be seen
in humans. The management of the ecosystem depends on the evolution and development of
species and organisms (Gaucher, Kratzer and Randall, 2009). The phylogenetics and trees of
life provide a framework for molecular evolution. The taxonomic tree of life depicts a
better understanding of the evolution of life and how it was originated. The phylogenetic tree
shows the ancestral lineage develops the organism on the tree. The lineage evolved and
remain unbranched is considered to be basal taxon. Sister taxon indicates the closest
relatives of a group on the evolutionary tree.
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References
Gaucher, E., Kratzer, J. and Randall, R. (2009). Deep Phylogeny--How a Tree Can Help
Characterize Early Life on Earth. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 2(1),
pp.a002238-a002238.
Salisbury-VU, D. (2009). Twig by twig, climbing Earth's 'Tree of Life' - Futurity. [online]
Futurity. Available at: https://www.futurity.org/twig-by-twig-climbing-earths-tree-of-life/
[Accessed 17 Feb. 2019].
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