Natural History of DNA-Dependent DNA Polymerases: Multiple Pathways to the Origins of DNA.

ABSTRACT: One of the major evolutionary transitions that led to DNA replacing RNA as the primary informational molecule in biological systems is still the subject of an intense debate in the scientific community. DNA polymerases are currently split into various families. Families A, B, and C are the most significant. In bacteria and some types of viruses, enzymes from families A and C predominate, whereas family B enzymes are more common in Archaea, Eukarya, and some types of viruses. A phylogenetic analysis of these three families of DNA polymerase was carried out. We assumed that reverse transcriptase was the ancestor of DNA polymerases. Our findings suggest that families A and C emerged and organized themselves when the earliest bacterial lineages had diverged, and that these earliest lineages ha

SUBMITTER: de Farias ST 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10052633 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature