Archaeal origin of tubulin

Natalya Yutin,Eugene V Koonin

doi:10.1186/1745-6150-7-10

Natalya Yutin, Eugene V Koonin

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6150-7-10

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Abstract

Tubulins are a family of GTPases that are key components of the cytoskeleton in all eukaryotes and are distantly related to the FtsZ GTPase that is involved in cell division in most bacteria and many archaea. Among prokaryotes, bona fide tubulins have been identified only in bacteria of the genus Prosthecobacter. These bacterial tubulin genes appear to have been horizontally transferred from eukaryotes. Here we describe tubulins encoded in the genomes of thaumarchaeota of the genus Nitrosoarchaeum that we denote artubulins Phylogenetic analysis results are compatible with the origin of eukaryotic tubulins from artubulins. These findings expand the emerging picture of the origin of key components of eukaryotic functional systems from ancestral forms that are scattered among the extant archaea.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by Gáspár Jékely and J. Peter Gogarten.

Highlights

Tubulins are a family of GTPases that are key components of the cytoskeleton in all eukaryotes and are distantly related to the FtsZ GTPase that is involved in cell division in most bacteria and many archaea
The only bona fide tubulins have been identified in several bacteria of the genus Prosthecobacter [4] in which they form microtubule-like sturctures closely resembling eukaryotic microtubulues [5]
The great majority of bacteria and many Archaea encode the FtsZ protein which plays a central role in cell division of most bacteria and many archaea and is a prokaryotic homolog of tubulin [8]

Summary

Introduction

Tubulins are a family of GTPases that are key components of the cytoskeleton in all eukaryotes and are distantly related to the FtsZ GTPase that is involved in cell division in most bacteria and many archaea. Bona fide tubulins have been identified only in bacteria of the genus Prosthecobacter. These bacterial tubulin genes appear to have been horizontally transferred from eukaryotes. We describe tubulins encoded in the genomes of thaumarchaeota of the genus Nitrosoarchaeum that we denote artubulins Phylogenetic analysis results are compatible with the origin of eukaryotic tubulins from artubulins. These findings expand the emerging picture of the origin of key components of eukaryotic functional systems from ancestral forms that are scattered among the extant archaea

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