Extensive fundamental molecular and biological evolution took place between the prebiotic origins of life and the state of the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA). Considering the evolutionary innovations between these two endpoints from the perspective of environmental adaptation, we explore the hypothesis that LUCA was temporally, spatially, and environmentally distinct from life's earliest origins in an RNA world. Using this lens, we interpret several molecular biological features as indicating an environmental transition between a cold, radiation-shielded origin of life and a mesophilic, surface-dwelling LUCA. Cellularity provides motility and permits Darwinian evolution by connecting genetic material and its products, and thus establishing heredity and lineage. Considering the importance of compartmentalization and motility, we propose that the early emergence of cellularity is required for environmental dispersal and diversification during these transitions. Early diversification and the emergence of ecology before LUCA could be an important pre-adaptation for life's persistence on a changing planet.

中文翻译：

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从生命起源到最后一个普遍祖先的环境适应。

在生命的益生元起源和最后一个普遍祖先（LUCA）的状态之间发生了广泛的基础分子和生物学进化。从环境适应的角度考虑这两个端点之间的进化创新，我们探讨了LUCA在时间，空间和环境上与RNA世界中生命的最早起源不同的假设。使用这种透镜，我们解释了几种分子生物学特征，它们表明在寒冷，辐射屏蔽的生命起源和嗜温的，表面居住的LUCA之间发生了环境转变。细胞质通过连接遗传物质及其产物，从而提供了活力并允许达尔文进化，从而建立了遗传和世系。考虑到分隔和动力的重要性，我们提出，在这些过渡过程中，环境的分散和多样化需要细胞质的早期出现。LUCA之前的早期多样化和生态学的出现可能是生命在不断变化的星球上的持久生存的重要预适应。