Discovery of archaeal Fusexins homologous to eukaryotic HAP2/GCS1 gamete fusion proteins
Open accessPreprint — published as 10.1038/s41467-022-31564-1
Abstract
Sexual reproduction consists of genome reduction by meiosis and subsequent gamete fusion. Presence of meiotic genes in prokaryotes suggests that DNA repair mechanisms evolved toward meiotic recombination; however, fusogenic proteins resembling those found in eukaryotes were not identified in prokaryotes. Here, we identify archaeal proteins that are homologs of fusexins, a superfamily of fusogens that mediate eukaryotic gamete and somatic cell fusion, as well as virus entry. The crystal structure of a trimeric archaeal Fusexin1 reveals novel features such as a six-helix bundle and an additional globular domain. Ectopically expressed Fusexin1 can fuse mammalian cells, and this process involves the additional domain and a conserved fusion loop. Archaeal fusexin genes exist within integrated mobile elements, potentially linking ancient archaeal gene exchanges and eukaryotic sex. One-Sentence Summary: Cell membrane fusion proteins of viruses and eukaryotes are also present in archaea.
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Cites
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Self-citationseaborn: statistical data visualization
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- Authors
- Moi, D., Nishio, S., Li, X., Valansi, C., Langleib, M., Brukman, N. G., Flyak, K., Dessimoz, C., de Sanctis, D., Tunyasuvunakool, K., Jumper, J., Graña, M., Romero, H., Aguilar, P. S., Jovine, L., & Podbilewicz, B.
- Affiliations
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (CH)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL)
- Universidad de la República de Uruguay (UY)
- Google DeepMind (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- Corresponding author
- Romero, Héctor
- Aguilar, Pablo S.
- Jovine, Luca
- Podbilewicz, Benjamin
- ORCID
- Venue
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Publisher
- openRxiv
- Published
- 2021-10-13
- OpenAlex
- W3205549371
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 21 · 2021: 1
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Novartis Foundation
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (183723)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
- Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse (2020-04936, 2018.0042)
- Vetenskapsrådet (2016-03999, 2020-04936)
- Novartis Stiftung für Medizinisch-Biologische Forschung (17B111)
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
- Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica (I+D-2020)
- Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Biochemical and Structural Characterization
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
- Keywords
- archaea, gamete fusion, meiotic recombination, mobile genetic elements, fusion loop, six-helix bundle, viral entry
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