title: The evolution of bacterial mechanosensitive channels.
abstract: Mechanosensitive channels are ubiquitous and highly studied. However, the evolution of the bacterial channels remains enigmatic. It can be argued that mechanosensitivity might be a feature of all membrane proteins with some becoming progressively less sensitive to membrane tension over the course of evolution. Bacteria and archaea exhibit two main classes of channels, MscS and MscL. Present day channels suggest that the evolution of MscL may be highly constrained, whereas MscS has undergone elaboration via gene fusion (and potentially gene fission) events to generate a diversity of channel structures. Some of these channel variants are constrained to a small number of genera or species. Some are only found in higher organisms. Only exceptionally have these diverse channels been investigated in any detail. In this review we consider both the processes that might have led to the evolved complexity but also some of the methods exploiting the explosion of genome sequences to understand (and/or track) their distribution. The role of MscS-related channels in calcium-mediated cell biology events is considered.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK; Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. Electronic address: i.r.booth@abdn.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK. Electronic address: sam.miller@abdn.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Broad Institute, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. Electronic address: axel@caltech.edu.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Cruikshank Building, University of Aberdeen, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, UK. Electronic address: l.lehtovirta@abdn.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lehtovirta-Morley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: Gene synteny; Mechanosensitive channels; MscL; MscS; Potassium channels