A mitochondrion-free eukaryote contains proteins capable of import into an exogenous mitochondrion-related organelle.

ABSTRACT: The endobiotic flagellate Monocercomonoides exilis is the only known eukaryote to have lost mitochondria and all its associated proteins in its evolutionary past. This final stage of the mitochondrial evolutionary pathway may serve as a model to explain events at their very beginning such as the initiation of protein import. We have assessed the capability of proteins from this eukaryote to enter emerging mitochondria using a specifically designed in vitro assay. Hydrogenosomes (reduced mitochondria) of Trichomonas vaginalis were incubated with a soluble protein pool derived from a cytosolic fraction of M. exilis, and proteins entering hydrogenosomes were subsequently detected by mass spectrometry. The assay detected 19 specifically and reproducibly imported pro

SUBMITTER: Fang YK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9832562 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature