A TEAM led by Li Meng, a professor with Shenzhen University (SZU), revealed in a test the correlation between the core protein Vps4 of the Asgard archaea ESCRT and the homologous protein in eukaryotes in functional evolution.

This suggested that the ESCRT may be derived from archaea (organisms whose cells lack a defined nucleus), providing important experimental evidence for the two-domain theory of biology, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

The functional complex ESCRT, which was previously thought to exist only in eukaryotes (organisms whose cells have a defined nucleus), was now found to exist in Asgard archaea.

In the 1970s, the American microbiologist Carl Woese and other biologists established the archaea domain through the study of ribosomal sequences and built the three domains of bacteria-archaea-eukaryotes.

However, with the development of subsequent biological research, the two-domain theory of “eukaryotes originated from archaea” has emerged, supported by a large amount of evidence.

Over nearly seven years of research, Li’s team has discovered several new archaea in the Futian mangrove wetland in Shenzhen and explored the physiological metabolic potential of archaea including asgard archaea, deep archaea, methanogenic archaea and ammonia oxidation archaea.

(Wang Jingli)