“The surprise is that the enzymes that catalyze those reactions are not conserved across the evolutionary divide that separates bacteria and archaea. We found that the last universal ancestor of all cells, LUCA, possessed enzymes for only about half of the reactions of metabolism. The other half was catalyzed by metals in the environment where LUCA arose.”

William Martin · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-05

Martin explains that enzymes catalyzing metabolic reactions are not conserved across the bacterial-archaeal divide and that LUCA possessed enzymes for only half of metabolism.