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Bacterial actins? An evolutionary perspective.

Russell F Doolittle1, Amanda L York

  • 1Center for Molecular Genetics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0634, USA. rdoolittle@ucsd.edu

Bioessays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
|April 12, 2002
PubMed
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The bacterial mreB protein is homologous to eukaryotic actin, challenging the idea that a cytoskeleton is unique to eukaryotes. This finding suggests a deeper evolutionary history for cytoskeletal components than previously understood.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • The presence of a cytoskeleton in eukaryotes and its absence in prokaryotes has been considered a fundamental distinction between these life domains.
  • This distinction has supported theories on eukaryotic evolution, including phagocytosis of prokaryotes and subsequent organelle development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary origins of cytoskeletal components.
  • To determine if homologs of eukaryotic cytoskeletal proteins exist in prokaryotes.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative sequence analysis of eukaryotic actin and bacterial mreB protein.
  • Examination of evolutionary histories of these homologous proteins.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Compelling evidence indicates that the bacterial mreB protein is a homolog of eukaryotic actin.
  • Both proteins exhibit similar functional behaviors.
  • Sequence comparisons reveal significantly divergent and extended evolutionary histories for actin and mreB compared to other shared proteins.

Conclusions:

  • The findings challenge the conventional view of the cytoskeleton as exclusively eukaryotic.
  • The evolutionary history of cytoskeletal components is more complex and ancient than previously assumed.
  • This discovery has implications for understanding early eukaryotic cell evolution and the origin of organelles.