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SUMMARY:Energetic constraints on the evolution of life - Dr Nick Lane (Dep
 artment of Genetics\, Evolution and Environment\, University College Londo
 n)
DTSTART:20140303T190000Z
DTEND:20140303T203000Z
UID:TALK49739@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ivan Lam
DESCRIPTION:_This talk is free for members of BioSoc or £2 for non-member
 s. You can also sign up for life membership (£15) at this talk._\n\nAll m
 orphologically complex life on Earth is eukaryotic\, and all eukaryotes sh
 are a common ancestor that was already a complex cell. Despite their bioch
 emical virtuosity\, prokaryotes show no tendency to evolve eukaryotic trai
 ts or large genomes. I will argue that prokaryotes are constrained by thei
 r membrane bioenergetics\, for fundamental reasons that stem from the very
  origin of life. Eukaryotes arose in a rare endosymbiosis between two prok
 aryotes\, which broke the energetic constraints on prokaryotes and gave ri
 se to mitochondria. Loss of almost all mitochondrial genes produced an ext
 reme genomic asymmetry in eukaryotes\, in which tiny mitochondrial genomes
  support\, energetically\, a massive nuclear genome\, giving eukaryotes 3-
 4 orders of magnitude more energy per gene than prokaryotes. The requireme
 nt for endosymbiosis radically altered selection on eukaryotes\, potential
 ly explaining the evolution of unique traits\, including two sexes\, speci
 ation and ageing.
LOCATION:Large Lecture Theatre\, Department of Plant Sciences\, Downing Si
 te
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