Ancient mechanics: Bacterial MAIN domains reveal an evolutionary link to eukaryotic mechanotransduction.

Bacterial symbionts and the lightness of being a prokaryote

How to grow a filament: Lessons from the RAD51 paralogs toolbox.

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Koo et al.1 describe how the yeast Rad55-Rad57-SHU complex dynamically nucleates Rad51 filaments on DNA. Functional coupling between Rad55-Rad57 and Rad51 on ssDNA seeds filament growth, whilst ATP hydrolysis promotes complex turnover.

Mitochondria before we knew them.

In this issue of Cell, Chen et al. chart mitochondrial proteome diversity across eukaryotes, revealing an unexpectedly complex ancestral proteome alongside extensive lineage-specific innovation. Their broad phylogenetic reconstruction provides new insights into the mitochondrial proteome of the last eukaryotic common a...

Handles on chromosome architecture.

Cohesin organizes genome folding through loop extrusion, a process regulated by cofactors including NIPBL and PDS5. Recent studies by Wutz et al. and Shah et al. demonstrate that NIPBL promotes loop expansion in mammalian cells, whereas PDS5 restricts loop growth by facilitating NIPBL dissociation from cohesin. Togethe...

Study: Viruses support photosynthesis in bacteria – an evolutionary advantage?

The narrowing prokaryote-eukaryote divide reveals a complexity spectrum.

Cellular organisms can be divided into two basic types of cells: the prokaryotic cells of Bacteria and Archaea and the eukaryotic cells. The rapidly expanding knowledge of the diversity and ultrastructure of prokaryotic cells has revealed cellular intricacies that warrant a critical reappraisal of the profundity of the...