Here we briefly review the current views of virus evolution and propose a new, coherent scenario that appears to be best compatible with comparative-genomic data and is naturally linked to models of cellular evolution that, from independent considerations, seem to be the most parsimonious among the existing ones.
We are beginning to have enough technology to reconstruct genomic evolution, but we are only beginning to realize how vastly different that is from cellular evolution.
Unfortunately, much of the molecular and cellular evolution that accompanied the transition from cyanobacterium to photosynthetic organelle is unclear.
Constraints-based modeling represents a paradigm in systems biology with a broad scope of applications ranging from bioengineering to cellular evolution [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9].
Jin, J. et al. Eukaryotic protein domains as functional units of cellular evolution.
Forterre, P. & Prangishvili, D. The major role of viruses in cellular evolution: facts and hypotheses.
Phylogenetic analysis of rRNA sequences is acknowledged as a prime force in systematics and from its very inception, had a major impact in our understanding of cellular evolution.
The emergence and evolution of metabolic pathways represented a crucial step in molecular and cellular evolution.
Consequently, RB deficiency promoted significant cellular evolution, ultimately resulting in tumorigenesis and enhanced therapeutic resistance.
There is certainly lots of knowledge to be gained from metagenomic analyses, from the study of mobile elements, from the study of gene evolution, lots of patterns and processes to explain, even without the light of cellular evolution.
