How Did Bacteria Come to Be?

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2911(08)60135-6Get rights and content

Abstract

Bacteria in the modern taxonomic sense are one of the three Domains. They must have split from the other two after the bulk of the development of biochemistry and cell biology had taken place. Up to the time of the Last Universal Ancestor (LUA) the world had been monophyletic with little stable diversity. This is to say that as advances took place the older forms were eliminated and diversity was only temporary. Two kinds of events could, in principle, permit stable diversity to arise. One kind occurs when two nearly simultaneous, different advances occur, both of which overcome the same problem. While the previous type would be supplanted, if the new types did not compete with each other, new niches and habitats could lead to stable diversity. The second kind is a saltation or macroevolutionary event that greatly expands the biota and reduces previous constraints and thereby drastically reduces competition; this generally leads to a ‘species radiation’ and results in the development of a spectrum of biological types some of which persist and do not compete with each other. It is proposed that the two splits to yield the three Domains of Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya, resulted from one of each of these two processes leading to diversity. One arose from the consequences of cells accumulating substances from the environment, thus increasing their internal osmotic pressure. This resulted in two nearly simultaneous biological solutions: one (Bacteria) was the development of the external sacculus, i.e. the formation of a stress-bearing exoskeleton. The other (Eukarya) was the development of cytoskeletons and mechanoenzymes, i.e. formation of an endoskeleton. The other event causing diversity was the invention of an effective way to tap a new energy source and allow the biomass to increase extensively permitting a radiation of many different types of organisms. I suggest that this seminal advance was the development of methanogenesis. This caused a short-lived expansion and radiation before oxygen-producing photosynthesis allowed a still more major expansion and decreased the number of methanogens. Some details of these processes are elaborated. In particular, the evolutionary process that permitted the development of a sacculus, interpreted in light of the bacterial physiology of today's organisms is presented. It is argued that many great advances arise by developing a number of totally different processes for other purposes that can then each be modified to combine for yet another purpose.

References (84)

  • H. Labischinski et al.

    Bacterial peptidoglycan: overview and evolving concepts.

  • M. Matsuhashi

    Utilization of lipid-linked precursors and the formation of peptidoglycan in the process of cell growth and division: membrane enzymes involved in the final steps of peptidoglycan synthesis and the mechanism of their regulation.

  • G.B. Ogden et al.

    The replicative origins of the E. coli chromosome binds to cell membranes only when hemimethylated

    Cell

    (1988)
  • S. Paula et al.

    Permeation of protons, potassium ions and small polar molecules through phospholipid bilayers and as function of membrane thickness

    Biophys. J.

    (1996)
  • G.D. Shockman et al.

    Microbial peptidoglycan (murein) hydrolases.

  • M. Blaut et al.

    Energetics of methanogens.

  • M.P. Bryant et al.

    Methanobacillus omelianski a symbiotic association of two species of bacteria. Arch. Microbiol.

    (1967)
  • I.D.K. Burdett et al.

    Studies of the pole assembly in Bacillus subtilis as seen in central, longitudinal, thin sections of cells

    J. Bacteriol.

    (1978)
  • S. Chang et al.

    Prebiotic organic syntheses and the origin of life.

  • R.M. Cole et al.

    Cell wall replication in Streptococcus pyrogenes: immunofluorescent methods applied during growth show that new wall is formed equatorially

    Science

    (1962)
  • S. Cooper

    Bacterial Growth and Division.

    (1991)
  • D.W. Deamer

    The first living system: a bioenergetic perspective

    Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.

    (1997)
  • P. Demchick et al.

    The permeability of the wall fabric of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis

    J. Bacteriol.

    (1996)
  • M.A. De Pedro et al.

    Murein segregation in Escherichia coli

    J. Bacteriol.

    (1997)
  • W.D. Donachie

    Relationship between cell size and time of initiation of DNA replication

    Nature

    (1968)
  • R.J. Doyle et al.

    The functions of autolysins in the growth and division of Bacillus subtilis

    Crit. Rev. Microbiol.

    (1987)
  • G.R. Fleischaker

    Origins of life: an operational definition

    Origin Life Evol. Biosphere

    (1990)
  • G.F. Gause

    The Struggle for Existence

    (1934)
  • B. Glauner et al.

    Growth pattern of the murein sacculus of Escherichia coli

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1990)
  • B. Glauner et al.

    The composition of the murein of Escherichia coli

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1998)
  • E.W. Goodell et al.

    Cleavage and resynthesis of peptide crossbridges in Escherichia coli murein

    J. Bacteriol.

    (1983)
  • S.J. Gould et al.

    The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptionist programme

    Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond.

    (1979)
  • J.B.S. Haldane

    Origin of life

  • J.M. Hayes

    Geochemical evidence bearing on the origin of aerobiosis, a speculative hypothesis.

  • J.V. Heijenoort

    Murein synthesis

  • M.L. Higgins et al.

    A study of a cycle of cell wall assembly in Streptococcus faecalis

    J. Bacteriol.

    (1976)
  • J.-V. Höltje

    Three for one - a simple mechanism that guarantees a precise copy of the thin, rod-shaped sacculus of Escherichia coli.

  • J.-V. Höltje

    A hypothetical holoenzyme involved in the replication of the murein sacculus of Escherichia coli

    Microbiology

    (1996)
  • N.H. Horowitz

    On the evolution of biochemical syntheses

    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA

    (1945)
  • A.L. Koch

    Enzyme evolution, the importance of untranslatable intermediates

    Genetics

    (1972)
  • A.L. Koch

    On the growth and form of Escherichia coli

    J. Gen. Microbiol.

    (1982)
  • A.L. Koch

    Spatial resolution of autoradiograms of rod-shaped organisms

    J. Gen. Microbiol.

    (1982)
  • Cited by (15)

    • Synthesized OH-radical rich bacteria cellulosic pockets with photodynamic bacteria inactivation properties against S. ureus and E. coli

      2020, Materials Science and Engineering C
      Citation Excerpt :

      According to the Baylor College of Medicine, microorganism related death is the second highest cause of death worldwide, second only to a heart attack [4,5]. It is a fact that bacteria are the oldest, and the most abundant forms of life on earth, and they are microscopic, single-celled organisms that thrive in diverse environments [6,7]. This has extensively contributed to shifting the research efforts towards the development of novel antimicrobials (antibacterial) agents in the form of chemicals and polymers using different mechanisms for different purposes [8,9].

    • Structural co-evolution of viruses and cells in the primordial world

      2008, Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text