Evolution
Components of the TCA cycle were derived from anaerobic bacteria, and the TCA cycle itself may have evolved more than once. Theoretically there are several alternatives to the TCA cycle, however the TCA cycle appears to be the most efficient. If several alternatives independently evolved, they all undoubtedly rapidly converged to the TCA cycle.
Read more about this topic: Citric Acid Cycle
Famous quotes containing the word evolution:
“The more specific idea of evolution now reached is—a change from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, accompanying the dissipation of motion and integration of matter.”
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
“The evolution of humans can not only be seen as the grand total of their wars, it is also defined by the evolution of the human mind and the development of the human consciousness.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“As a natural process, of the same character as the development of a tree from its seed, or of a fowl from its egg, evolution excludes creation and all other kinds of supernatural intervention.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)