Evolutionary Diversity of the Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 336; no. 6083; p. 886
• Main Authors: Bick, Alexander G., Calvo, Sarah E., Mootha, Vamsi K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 18.05.2012; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Bacteria; Bacteria - chemistry; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - metabolism; Bacterial Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Biological evolution; BREVIA; Calcium; Calcium channels; Calcium Channels - chemistry; Calcium Channels - genetics; Calcium-Binding Proteins - chemistry; Calcium-Binding Proteins - genetics; Cation Transport Proteins - chemistry; Cation Transport Proteins - genetics; Channels; Eukaryota - chemistry; Eukaryota - genetics; Eukaryota - metabolism; Evolution, Molecular; Evolutionary biology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungi; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Genome; Genomes; Government regulations; Homology; Humans; Ion channels; Membranes; Mitochondria; Mitochondria - chemistry; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins - chemistry; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins - genetics; Phylogeny; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Proteome; Protozoa; Uptakes; Vertebrates; Transport process; Molecular evolution; Mitochondria; Calcium; Biological transport; Eukaryote; Ionic channel
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1214977

Phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial calcium transporter shows that it was a feature of early eukaryotes. Calcium uptake into mitochondria occurs via a recently identified ion channel called the uniporter. Here, we characterize the phylogenomic distribution of the uniporter’s membrane-spanning pore subunit (MCU) and regulatory partner (MICU1). Homologs of both components tend to co-occur in all major branches of eukaryotic life, but both have been lost along certain protozoan and fungal lineages. Several bacterial genomes also contain putative MCU homologs that may represent prokaryotic calcium channels. The analyses indicate that the uniporter may have been an early feature of mitochondria.