Genesis of the nucleus from bacterial sporulation: A simple hypothesis of eukaryotic origin.

Abstract

The most complexed issue of eukaryogenesis is the origin of the nucleus. Many hypotheses have been forwarded to explain this. Most of them are complicated and intangible. Here, a new and relatively simple hypothesis to address this unresolved problem has been hypothesized. This hypothesis is denominated as "Theory of Nucleus Origin from Bacterial Sporulation" (TNOBS). The hypothesis points out that the nucleus may be derived from a bacterial endospore, particularly, when sporulation is arrested at stage 4 due to a gene mutation. At this stage, a double membrane structure containing a chromosome (foreospore) has developed, which is reminiscent of a nucleus. In addition to the forespore, the mother cell also contains an additional chromosome. This morphologically specific cell is referred as a proto-nucleate cell (PTC). The PTC requires additional energy to maintain their newly formed endomembrane compartment (protonucleus). This energy demand has the potential of driving the expression of genes for energy production from the cytosolic chromosome which finally evolves to mitochondria, whereas the forespore develops to the nucleus. This TNOBS considers the nucleus and mitochondrion having derived simultaneously in the same cell. Moreover, this scenario avoids the difficulty to explain how an α-proteobacterium (precursor of mitochondria) can be taken up by the host despite of lacking capacity for classic endocytosis. It is further suggested that PTC generation may not be an extremely rare event in nature due to the widely existing spore-forming bacteria and frequent mutations. TNOBS is comparably simple and may, in some of its principle traits, be even reproducible under laboratory conditions.