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Published on: December 17, 2016
Archaeal Diversity Sheds New Light on the Origin of the Eukaryotic Endomembrane System
Zhongyi Lu1, Siyu Zhang1, Ning Song1
1Archaeal Biology Center, Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering and Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China ;
Abstract:
The emergence of the endomembrane system marks a pivotal milestone in eukaryogenesis, transforming a primitive prokaryotic cell into a highly intracellular, compartmentalized eukaryotic cell. The molecular machinery underlying the endomembrane system has been considered a defining feature of eukaryotes. Yet its evolutionary origin remains elusive. Over the past decade, the rapid expansion of archaeal diversity, coupled with advancements in metagenomic technologies and cell biological characterization, has revealed that many key protein components of the endomembrane system likely originated from the archaeal ancestors of eukaryotes, a specific archaeal lineage that underwent a symbiotic fusion with the mitochondrial ancestor. This review summarizes and discusses the remarkable progress made in these research fields, offering a refined perspective on the origin of the eukaryotic endomembrane system within an updated tree of life.
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