Fig. 3. A reconstruction of LUCA, within its evolutionary and ecological context.

a, A representation of LUCA based on our ancestral gene content reconstruction. Gene names in black have been inferred to be present in LUCA under the most-stringent threshold (PP = 0.75, sampled in both domains); those in grey are present at the least-stringent threshold (PP = 0.50, without a requirement for presence in both domains). b, LUCA in the context of the tree of life. Branches on the tree of life that have left sampled descendants today are coloured black, those that have left no sampled descendants are in grey. As the common ancestor of extant cellular life, LUCA is the oldest node that can be reconstructed using phylogenetic methods. It would have shared the early Earth with other lineages (highlighted in teal) that have left no descendants among sampled cellular life today. However, these lineages may have left a trace in modern organisms by transferring genes into the sampled tree of life (red lines) before their extinction. c, LUCA’s chemoautotrophic metabolism probably relied on gas exchange with the immediate environment to achieve organic carbon (C_org) fixation via acetogenesis and it may also have run the metabolism in reverse. d, LUCA within the context of an early ecosystem. The CO₂ and H₂ that fuelled LUCA’s plausibly acetogenic metabolism could have come from both geochemical and biotic inputs. The organic matter and acetate that LUCA produced could have created a niche for other metabolisms, including ones that recycled CO₂ and H₂ (as in modern sediments). e, LUCA in an Earth system context. Acetogenic LUCA could have been a key part of both surface and deep (chemo)autotrophic ecosystems, powered by H₂. If methanogens were also present, hydrogen would be released as CH₄ to the atmosphere, converted to H₂ by photochemistry and thus recycled back to the surface ecosystem, boosting its productivity. Ferm., fermentation.