Phylogenetic convergence of phase separation and mitotic function in the disordered protein BuGZ.

ABSTRACT: Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) effect biological function despite their sequence-encoded lack of preference for stable three-dimensional structure. Among their many functions, IDPs form membraneless cellular compartments through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), also termed biomolecular condensation. The extent to which LLPS has been evolutionarily selected remains largely unknown, as the complexities of IDP evolution hamper progress. Unlike structured proteins, rapid sequence divergence typical of IDPs confounds inference of their biophysical or biological functions from comparative sequence analyses. Here, we leverage mitosis as a universal eukaryotic feature to interrogate condensate evolutionary history. We observe that evolution has conserved the ability for six homolog

SUBMITTER: Chin AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8927863 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature