The Evolutionary Origin of Peroxisomes: An ER-Peroxisome Connection

Authors: Schlüter, Agatha; Fourcade, Stéphane; Ripp, Raymond; Mandel, Jean Louis; Poch, Olivier; Pujol, Aurora

Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 23, Number 4, April 2006 , pp. 838-845(8)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $42.29 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

The peroxisome is an essential eukaryotic organelle, crucial for lipid metabolism and free radical detoxification, development, differentiation, and morphogenesis from yeasts to humans. Loss of peroxisomes invariably leads to fatal peroxisome biogenesis disorders in man. The evolutionary origin of peroxisomes remains unsolved; proposals for either a symbiogenetic or cellular membrane invagination event are unconclusive. To address this question, we have probed with a peroxisomal proteome, an “ensemble” of 19 representative eukaryotic complete genomes. Molecular phylogenetic and sequence comparison tools allowed us to identify four proteins as peroxisomal markers for unequivocal in silico peroxisome detection. We have then detected the Apicomplexa phylum as the first group of organisms devoid of peroxisomes, in the presence of mitochondria. Finally, we deliver evidence against a prokaryotic ancestor of peroxisomes: (1) the peroxisomal membrane is composed of purely eukaryotic bricks and is thus useful to trace the eukaryotes in their evolutionary paths and (2) the peroxisomal matrix protein import system shares mechanistic similarities with the endoplasmic reticulum/proteasome degradation process, indicating a common evolutionary history.

Keywords: peroxisome; endoplasmic reticulum; functional genomics; peroxisomal markers

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msj103

Publication date: 2006-04-01

More about this publication?

Molecular Biology and Evolution publishes research at the interface between molecular and evolutionary biology. The journal publishes investigations of molecular evolutionary patterns and processes, tests of evolutionary hypotheses that use molecular data, and studies that use molecular evolutionary information to address questions about biological function at all levels of organization.

The Evolutionary Origin of Peroxisomes: An ER-Peroxisome Connection

Buy & download fulltext article:

Tools

Key

Text size:

Useful pages