Prokaryotic mechanisms in eukaryotes: experimental data and speculations

Abstract

Surprising experimental data recently provided could indicate ancestral genes common to mammals and bacteria. The detection of prokaryotic structures and/or mechanisms even in higher eukaryotes shows the extreme conservation of gene structures throughout evolution. The occurrence of common structures in pro- and eukaryotes is in good agreement with the new view concerning the early steps of cellular evolution. Because of the relative paucity of research in this area, further prokaryotic features of transcription and translation process may also be evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotes.