looking-for-luca-the-last-universal-common-ancestor

An absolutely fascinating article on LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor, AKA the progenote).

From the abstract in the below-linked study:
"Because these proteins are not universally distributed, they can shed light on LUCA's physiology. Their functions, properties and prosthetic groups depict LUCA as anaerobic, CO2-fixing, H2-dependent with a Wood–Ljungdahl pathway, N2-fixing and thermophilic. LUCA's biochemistry was replete with FeS clusters and radical reaction mechanisms."

https://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol2016116