Emergent complexity in Myosin V-based organelle inheritance

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Organelle inheritance requires coordination between cell cycle, cytoskeleton, and biogenesis modules.
• Budding yeast are model organisms for studying cellular survival, propagation, and differentiation.
• Organelles compete for myosin V motors for transport along actin cables.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how adaptability is generated in cellular machinery.
• To characterize the evolutionary history of organelle-specific receptors for myosin V motors.
• To understand the mechanisms of myosin V-based organelle transport.

Main Methods:

• Comparative genomics
• Phylogenetics
• Secondary structure modeling

Main Results:

• Some organelle receptors are conserved across animals and fungi.
• Other receptors are specific to the Saccharomycetaceae family of budding yeast.
• A conserved factor is often paired with an evolutionarily novel adaptor.

Conclusions:

• Myosin V-based organelle inheritance evolved through paralogy, mutation, and novel adaptors.
• This system provides adaptability for diverse cargoes competing for a single motor.
• Evolutionary adaptability can arise within constrained cellular modules.