Early Diversification of Membrane Intrinsic Proteins (MIPs) in Eukaryotes.

ABSTRACT: Membrane intrinsic proteins (MIPs), including aquaporins (AQPs) and aquaglyceroporins (GLPs), form an ancient family of transporters for water and small solutes across biological membranes. The evolutionary history and functions of MIPs have been extensively studied in vertebrates and land plants, but their widespread presence across the eukaryotic tree of life suggests both a more complex evolutionary history and a broader set of functions than previously thought. That said, the early evolution of MIPs remains obscure. The presence of one GLP and four AQP clades across both bacteria and archaea suggests that the first eukaryotes could have possessed up to five MIPs. Here, we report on a previously unknown richness in MIP diversity across all major eukaryotic lineages, including unicellula

SUBMITTER: Irisarri I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11316224 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature