How do individual subunits of conserved molecular complexes acquire novel functions?
März 2024
- Datum: 15.03.2024
- Uhrzeit: 14:00 - 15:30
- Vortragende(r): Juan Carlos De La Concepcion
- GREGOR MENDEL INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR PLANT BIOLOGY, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Ort: Zentralgebäude
- Raum: Seminar Raum
- Gastgeber: Marion Clavel
Abstract
Molecular
machines composed of multiple subunits orchestrate essential cellular
processes. Most of them were already present in the last eukaryotic ancestor.
Therefore, understanding how these complexes evolve and specialize is crucial
to comprehend the emergence and evolution of modern cellular complexity.
However, our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie
functional diversification of multimeric proteins remains limited. Here, we
used the plant exocyst complex as a model to study the evolution and
mechanistic basis of neo-functionalization in protein complexes. We leveraged a
combination of cell biology, proteomics, biochemistry, genetics, and
phylogenetic analysis to show how changes in a single exocyst subunit, Exo70,
altered its association with the rest of the subunits and allowed Exo70
proteins to rapidly diversify and acquire novel functions in plants. Our
findings demonstrate how a single subunit escapes from the evolutionary
constrains of its ancestral multimeric complex, resulting in
neofunctionalization and emergence of increased cellular complexity.