Biology subjects

Vaitova, Z.

Publications and source records attributed to Vaitova, Z..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Reduced mitochondria provide an essential function for the cytosolic methionine cycle

It has been long hypothesised that mitochondrial reduction is intrinsically related to the remodelling of Fe-S clusters assembly. Yet as our knowledge of divergent free-living protists broadens, so does the spectrum of variability within the range of mitochondrial-related organelles (MROs) fundamental functions. We resolved to high precision the MRO proteome of Paratrimastix pyriformis using Localisation of Organelle Proteins by Isotope Tagging (LOPIT) and demonstrate its role in the synthesis of folate derivates bearing one-carbon (1C) units, its link to the glycine cleavage system (GCS) and their only conceivable role as suppliers for the cytosolic methionine cycle, involved in recycling of S-adenosine methionine. This observation provides congruity to the presence of GCS in MROs of free-living anaerobes and its absence in endobionts, which typically lose the methionine cycle and, in the case of oxymonads, also mitochondria.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Ancestral Mitochondrial Protein Secretion Machinery

The type 2 secretion system (T2SS) is present in some Gram-negative eubacteria and used to secrete proteins across the outer membrane. Here we report that certain representative heteroloboseans, jakobids, malawimonads and hemimastigotes unexpectedly possess homologues of core T2SS components. We show that at least some of them are present in mitochondria, and their behaviour in biochemical assays is consistent with the presence of a mitochondrial T2SS-derived system (miT2SS). We additionally identified 23 protein families co-occurring with miT2SS in eukaryotes. Seven of these proteins could be directly linked to the core miT2SS by functional data and/or sequence features, whereas others may represent different parts of a broader functional pathway, possibly also involving the peroxisome. Its distribution in eukaryotes and phylogenetic evidence together indicate that the miT2SS-centred pathway is an ancestral eukaryotic trait. Our findings thus have direct implications for the functional properties of the early mitochondrion.

evolutionary biology↗