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CHEMICAL ORIGIN OF LIFE

A detour to sterol synthesis

Nature Microbiology volume 4, pages 214–215 (2019)Cite this article

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Sterols are a hallmark of eukaryotes. So how do hordes of primitive eukaryotes survive and thrive without a key enzyme for making these crucial lipids? We now learn what solution evolution arrived at — invention of an alternative enzyme that does the same job.

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Fig. 1: SQE catalyses the first oxygenation step of sterol synthesis across eukaryotic life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Matthew A. B. Baker & Andrew J. Brown

  2. CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, Brisbane, Australia

    Matthew A. B. Baker

Authors
  1. Matthew A. B. Baker
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  2. Andrew J. Brown
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Correspondence to Andrew J. Brown.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Baker, M.A.B., Brown, A.J. A detour to sterol synthesis. Nat Microbiol 4, 214–215 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0347-8

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