Diversity and origins of anaerobic metabolism in mitochondria and related organelles.
Across the diversity of life, organisms have evolved different strategies to thrive in hypoxic environments, and microbial eukaryotes (protists) are no exception. Protists that experience hypoxia often possess metabolically distinct mitochondria called mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs). While there are some common metabolic features shared between the MROs of distantly related protists, these organelles have evolved independently multiple times across the breadth of eukaryotic diversity. Until recently, much of our knowledge regarding the metabolic potential of different MROs was limited to studies in parasitic lineages. Over the past decade, deep-sequencing studies of free-living anaerobic protists have revealed novel configurations of metabolic pathways that have been co-opted for life in low oxygen environments. Here, we provide recent examples of anaerobic metabolism in the MROs of free-living protists and their parasitic relatives. Additionally, we outline evolutionary scenarios to explain the origins of these anaerobic pathways in eukaryotes.
Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, 5850 College Street, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2.
Courtney W
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6650-0970
CW
Stairs
Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, 5850 College Street, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2.
Michelle M
MM
Leger
Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, 5850 College Street, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2 andrew.roger@dal.ca.
Andrew J
AJ
Roger
D000693:Anaerobiosis; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015388:Organelles / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption
anaerobic metabolism; eukaryotic evolution; mitochondrion-related organelles