An evolutionary perspective on Arf family GTPases

Jackson, Catherine L.; Ménétrey, Julie; Sivia, Mandeep; Dacks, Joel B.; Eliáš, Marek

doi:10.1016/j.ceb.2023.102268

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 72 publications

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“…The origin of the Arf family is less well understood, but it was already well-established in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA), with 15 members present 23 . Arf family proteins, including classical Arfs as well as a plethora of Arf-like (Arl) proteins, Arfrp1 and Sar1, function in multiple steps of membrane trafficking including vesicle budding, movement of vesicles and organelles along cytoskeleton tracks, targeting and regulation of vesicle fusion, as well as in membrane lipid modification, lipid metabolism, cytoskeleton-membrane interaction and cilia transport [24][25][26] . Like other membrane-associated small GTPases in eukaryotes, Arf family proteins carry out their functions by recruiting effectors to the membrane in their active GTP-bound form 24,25,27 .…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arf family GTPases are present in Asgard archaea

Vargová,

Chevreau,

Alves

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The emergence of eukaryotes from their prokaryotic ancestors is one of the most fundamental evolutionary events in the history of life. Little is robustly known about how eukaryogenesis occurred, but a major breakthrough came with the identification of the Asgardarchaeota, the closest prokaryotic lineage to eukaryotes yet discovered. Endomembrane organelles, and the capacity to transport material between them, are major hallmarks of eukaryotic cells. The Arf family GTPases are crucial regulators of organelle dynamics in eukaryotes, functioning in vesicle budding, membrane tethering and membrane-cytoskeleton interactions. Although an expanded GTPase complement has been reported in the Asgardarchaeota, the specific origins of the Arf family remain elusive. Here we report a new group of prokaryotic GTPases, the ArfRs. Widely present in Asgardarchaeota and almost exclusive to them, it is the clade from which all eukaryotic Arf family proteins are derived. Heterologous expression of representative Asgardarchaeota ArfR proteins in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae and X-ray crystallographic studies demonstrate that ArfR GTPases possess the mechanism of membrane binding and structural features unique to Arf family proteins. Our results show that Arf family GTPases are present in Asgardarchaeota, and strongly suggest that they originated in the archaeal contributor to eukaryogenesis, providing support for nascent endomembrane system capacity evolving early in eukaryogenesis.

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Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arf family GTPases are present in Asgard archaea

Vargová,

Chevreau,

Alves

et al. 2024

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Reconstructing the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes

Richards,

Eme,

Archibald

et al. 2024

PLoS Biol

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Understanding the origin of eukaryotic cells is one of the most difficult problems in all of biology. A key challenge relevant to the question of eukaryogenesis is reconstructing the gene repertoire of the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA). As data sets grow, sketching an accurate genomics-informed picture of early eukaryotic cellular complexity requires provision of analytical resources and a commitment to data sharing. Here, we summarise progress towards understanding the biology of LECA and outline a community approach to inferring its wider gene repertoire. Once assembled, a robust LECA gene set will be a useful tool for evaluating alternative hypotheses about the origin of eukaryotes and understanding the evolution of traits in all descendant lineages, with relevance in diverse fields such as cell biology, microbial ecology, biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine. In this Consensus View, we put forth the status quo and an agreed path forward to reconstruct LECA’s gene content.

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An evolutionary perspective on Arf family GTPases

Cited by 2 publications

References 72 publications

Arf family GTPases are present in Asgard archaea

Arf family GTPases are present in Asgard archaea

Reconstructing the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes

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