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Fig. 2 | Biology Direct

Fig. 2

From: Division of labour in a matrix, rather than phagocytosis or endosymbiosis, as a route for the origin of eukaryotic cells

Fig. 2

Three potential pathways from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. In (a) two unipartite spaces fuse to form a bipartitite space that develops into a tripartitite eukaryotic progenitor [1* + 1*➔ 2*➔ 3*]. The initial unipartite spaces represented here are either a non-nucleated autogenously-derived proto-eukaryote and a bacterial space, or an archaeal space and bacterial space. The bacterial space is assumed to be the progenitor of the mitochondrial space (m), and fusion of the partner genomes is assumed to give rise to the nuclear space (N). In (b) a bipartite space, assumed here to be an autogenously-derived nucleated protoeukaryote, merges with a unipartite space, assumed here to be bacterial rather than archaeal, [2* + 1* ➔ 3*] to generate a eukaryotic progenitor cell. In (c), three unipartite spaces merge to give a tripartite space, [1* + 1* + 1* ➔ 3*]. In this manuscript the three spaces are assumed to be an archaeal space, a bacterial space and a matrix or third-space. The matrix serves as a proxy-cytoplasm, the two cellular spaces both contribute to the nucleus

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