Rewinding the Molecular Clock: Looking at Pioneering Molecular Phylogenetics Experiments in the Light of Proteomics.

ABSTRACT: Science is full of overlooked and undervalued research waiting to be rediscovered. Proteomics is no exception. In this perspective, we follow the ripples from a 1960 study of Zuckerkandl, Jones, and Pauling comparing tryptic peptides across animal species. This pioneering work directly led to the molecular clock hypothesis and the ensuing explosion in molecular phylogenetics. In the decades following, proteins continued to provide essential clues on evolutionary history. While technology has continued to improve, contemporary proteomics has strayed from this larger biological context, rarely comparing species or asking how protein structure, function, and interactions have evolved. Here we recombine proteomics with molecular phylogenetics, highlighting the value of framing proteomic result

SUBMITTER: Neely BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8491155 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature