Sleep is a universally conserved behavior whose origin and evolutionary purpose are uncertain. Using phylogenomics, this article investigates the evolutionary foundations of sleep from a never before used perspective. More specifically, it identifies orthologs of human sleep-related genes in the Lokiarchaeota of the Asgard superphylum and examines their functional role. Our findings indicate that a conserved suite of genes associated with energy metabolism and cellular repair is involved, thus suggesting that sleep plays a primordial role in cellular maintenance. The data cited lend credence to the idea that sleep improves organismal fitness across evolutionary time by acting as a restorative process. Notably, our approach demonstrates that phylogenomics is more useful than standard phylogenetics for clarifying common evolutionary traits. By offering insight into the evolutionary history of sleep and putting forth a novel model framework for sleep research across taxa, these findings contribute to our growing understanding of the molecular foundation of sleep. This study lays the groundwork for further investigations into the importance of sleep in various organisms. Such investigations could have consequences for improving human health and more generally could provide a deeper comprehension of the fundamental processes of life.
Keywords: Lokiarchaeota; Loki’s Castle; orthology; phylogenomics; sleep genetics.