Re: Why did eukaryotes evolve?
From: Tim Tyler (tim_at_tt1lock.org)
Date: 03/30/05
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Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:15:12 -0500 (EST)
Henkka <hronkko@hytti.uku.fi> wrote or quoted:
> Would anyone happen to have speculations as to why eukaryotes evolved?
> In short, what can single-celled eukaryotes (with all of that
> complicated machinery) do that prokaryotes can't? Engulfing other
> microbes is one such often-mentioned thing. Any other possibilities?
> Many protoctists do their living differently - the single-celled
> algae, for instance. Possibly they are doing something differently
> from prokaryotes, with whose reproductive efficiency eukaryotes can't
> compete.
Eukaryotes seem to be a lot more successful as social organisms than
most prokaryotes.
It may be that they can handle the necessary complexity better -
perhaps by having better insulated DNA, more orchestrated sex,
and lower error rates.
In simulations of evolution, the game is often to the small, fast,
rapidly-reproducing organisms. They can grow faster than larger,
more sluggish organisms - and can more rapidly expand to utilise
new resources.
In many respects, the mystery is how sociable eucaryotic organisms
managed to get much of a foothold in the first place. It's easy to
see advantages to cooperation retrospectively, but for the pioneers
in the area, it probably seemed like they needed a lot of ad-hoc
infrastructure before the process could get off the ground.
As well as asking why it took so long, it's quite reasonable to ask
why it happened at all.
-- __________ |im |yler http://timtyler.org/ tim@tt1lock.org Remove lock to reply.
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