Evolution of the vesicle fusion machinery

真核细胞中细胞器之间的货物运输是由从供体隔室出芽并与受体膜特异性融合的囊泡介导的。目前，越来越清楚的是，参与囊泡运输的主要方面的分子机制是高度保守的，不仅在不同物种之间，而且在细胞内的不同囊泡运输步骤之间。在所有步骤中，参与融合过程的中央机器由SNARE蛋白家族的成员组成。据认为，这种机制是由Sec 1/Munc 18（SM）蛋白质家族成员严格控制的。然而，对于其他重要因素，通常不清楚它们是否在所有贩运步骤中发挥作用，或者它们是否代表某些贩运步骤或某些真核谱系的特殊适应。因此，我们希望建立一个详细的描述的进化历史的蛋白质机制参与囊泡融合过程。参与这一过程的不同蛋白质家族的进化历史将映射到物种树上。这将使我们能够发现该机制如何适应不同的真核细胞谱系和细胞内不同的囊泡运输步骤。最终，我们希望确定原型囊泡融合机制的关键要素，并确定其功能重要的网站。此外，这将使我们能够发现相互作用的蛋白质之间的共同进化模式。此外，我们希望获得深入了解真核生物的主要谱系之间的系统发育关系和真核生物内膜系统的进化。

Transport of cargo between organelles in eukaryotic cells is mediated by vesicles that bud from a donor compartment and fuse specifically with an acceptor membrane. Currently, it is becoming clear that the molecular machineries involved in the principal aspects of vesicular trafficking are highly conserved, not only between different species but also between different vesicle trafficking steps within the cell. In all steps, the central machinery involved in the fusion process is composed of members of the SNARE protein family. It is thought that this machinery is tightly controlled by members of the Sec1/Munc18 (SM) family of proteins. For other important factors, however, it is often unclear whether they have a role in all trafficking steps or whether they represent special adaptations of certain trafficking steps or certain eukaryotic lineages. We therefore want to establish a detailed description of the evolutionary history of the protein machinery involved in the vesicle fusion process. The evolutionary history of the different protein families involved in this process will be mapped onto the species tree. This will allow us to discover how the mechanism has adapted in different eukaryotic lineages and in different vesicle trafficking steps within the cell. Ultimately, we want to identify the key elements of the prototypic vesicle fusion mechanism and to pinpoint its functionally important sites. In addition, this will enable us to discover co-evolutionary patterns between interacting proteins. Moreover, we hope to gain insights into phylogenetic relationships between the major eukaryotic lineages and into the evolution of the eukaryotic endomembrane system.