Evolutionary dynamics of the kinetochore network in eukaryotes as revealed by comparative genomics.

ABSTRACT: During eukaryotic cell division, the sister chromatids of duplicated chromosomes are pulled apart by microtubules, which connect via kinetochores. The kinetochore is a multiprotein structure that links centromeres to microtubules, and that emits molecular signals in order to safeguard the equal distribution of duplicated chromosomes over daughter cells. Although microtubule-mediated chromosome segregation is evolutionary conserved, kinetochore compositions seem to have diverged. To systematically inventory kinetochore diversity and to reconstruct its evolution, we determined orthologs of 70 kinetochore proteins in 90 phylogenetically diverse eukaryotes. The resulting ortholog sets imply that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) possessed a complex kinetochore and highlight that curre

SUBMITTER: van Hooff JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5579357 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature