Supplemental files for: A consensus view of the proteome of the last universal common ancestor

The availability of genomic and proteomic data from across the tree of life has made it possible to infer features of the genome and proteome of the last universal common ancestor of life (LUCA). A number of studies have done so, all using a unique set of methods and bioinformatics databases. Here, we compare predictions across eight such studies and measure both their agreement with one another and with the consensus predictions among them. We find that some LUCA genome studies show a strong agreement with the consensus predictions of the others, but that no individual study shares a high or even moderate degree of similarity with any other individual study. From these observations, we conclude that the consensus among studies provides a more accurate depiction of the proteome of the LUCA and its functional repertoire. The set of consensus LUCA protein family predictions between all of these studies portrays a LUCA genome that, at minimum, encoded functions related to protein synthesis, amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, and the use of common, nucleotide-derived organic cofactors.Funding provided by: National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000104Award Number: Joint NASA-NSF Ideas Lab on the Origins of LifeFunding provided by: NASA*Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number: 80NSSC19M0069Funding provided by: National Science FoundationCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001Award Number: MRI142794