The origins of ATP synthases, the identity of LUCA, and the progenote

Abstract

Here, I analyze the origins and evolution of ATP synthases. Observations regarding the early evolution of life would imply that the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) and its most direct descendants were progenotes. That is to say, the main conclusion would be that around the root of the tree of life the cell stage had not yet been reached. In other words, that cells would have appeared only during the formation of the main phyletic lineages leading to bacteria and archaea. Such implications arise from a conjecture that by linking the evolution of ATP synthases to methanogenesis and the latter to the origin of the genetic code which in turn would be linked to the definition of progenote, would be able to link the evolution of ATP synthases to the definition of progenote.