Sterol metabolism in the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki has features that resemble both fungi and animals.

ABSTRACT: Sterols are essential for several physiological processes in most eukaryotes. Sterols regulate membrane homeostasis and participate in different signalling pathways not only as precursors of steroid hormones and vitamins, but also through its role in the formation of lipid rafts. Two major types of sterols, cholesterol and ergosterol, have been described so far in the opisthokonts, the clade that comprise animals, fungi and their unicellular relatives. Cholesterol predominates in derived bilaterians, whereas ergosterol is what generally defines fungi. We here characterize, by a combination of bioinformatic and biochemical analyses, the sterol metabolism in the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki, a close unicellular relative of animals that is becoming a model organism. We found that C. owcz

SUBMITTER: Najle SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4967820 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature