Close

Mitochondrial targeting of glycolysis in a major lineage of eukaryotes.

Carolina Río Bártulos, Matthew B. Rogers, Tom A. Williams , Eleni Gentekaki , Henner Brinkmann, Rüdiger Cerff , Marie-Françoise Liaud , Adrian B. Hehl , Nigel R. Yarlett, Ansgar Gruber, Peter G. Kroth, Mark van der Giezen

Posted on: 13 February 2018 , updated on: 28 March 2018

Preprint posted on 31 January 2018

Article now published in Genome Biology and Evolution at http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evy164

Here the authors show a novel location for a central metabolic pathway: the enzymes of the latter half of glycolysis, normally localised in the cytoplasm, are targeted to the mitochondria in certain Stramenopiles (Heterokonts).

Selected by Ellis O'Neill

Overview

I chose this pre-print because it is always nice to find exceptions to the rule in biology. We think we have a pretty good idea about core metabolic pathways, but there are still some unusual twists, as shown in this work. In most Eukaryotes, the ten enzymes of glycolysis are located in the cytosol, and the product, pyruvate, is imported into the mitochondria for further respiration in the Krebs cycle. In this work, the authors identified mitochondrial targeting sequences in the genes for the latter six enzymes of glycolysis in the human pathogen Blastocystis, a Stramenopile (Heterokont). In order to show these sequences are functional, they used them to target GFP to the mitochondria of Phaeodactylum, an alga in the same supergroup. These cells showed enzyme activity in cellular fractions corresponding to mitochondria and the activity was protected from proteases. They then identified mitochondrial targeting sequences on these enzymes in a range of related organisms, suggesting this is a widespread phenomenon in this group. Interestingly, Kinetoplastids, such as Trypanosomes, also have glycolysis compartmentation, with nine enzymes in the glycosome. Whilst this is another example of a pathogen with an unusual location of central metabolic enzymes, this doesn’t necessarily indicate a trend, as it is more likely due to the fact that human pathogens are more intensely studied.

Future Outlook

This work advances the idea that glycolysis was originally located in the mitochondrion of the ancestral bacterium. This remains to be shown; a much wider survey of these genes – to see if the trait is polyphyletic – would help to bolster this argument. The sparse sequencing in many branches of the tree of life complicates this analysis.

The authors also point out that a new transporter is needed to import the triose phosphate metabolic intermediates into the mitochondrion, and this may represent a viable drug target against human or plant pathogens that show this ‘split’ glycolysis.

Further Reading

A review of the compartmentation of glycolysis in the Kinetoplastid glycosome. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167488915003080)

New work in Science highlights alternatives to central metabolic pathways. (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6375/517.full, http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6375/559, http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6375/563)

 

Read preprint (No Ratings Yet)

Author's response

Mark van der Giezen shared

Nice, thanks for promoting our work!

The bit about glycosomes in tryps is correct but it is more general than only in parasites as other euglenozoa seem to have glycosomes, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27170716

The notion that glycolysis was present in the original endosymbiont is without a doubt. Although phylogenetic analyses will not show an alpha proteobacterial signal for all enzymes, similar to not retrieving that signal for all mitochondrial protein in an organism. There is a lot of literature about this but the main reason for failing to see that signal is that the endosymbiont, like modern bacteria, had witnessed lateral gene transfers so several glycolytic enzymes might already have changed ‘evolutionary affinity’ from the original alpha proteobacterial one.

As said, nice to see this picked up, it was a long path to get this sorted by people from different background skills wise. We wanted to be thorough and think we have used different techniques to definitely show these enzymes are inside the mitochondria. Microscopy alone would not be enough, suggestive yes but not conclusive unless when z-stacks are used. We resorted to ‘old school’ biochemistry and protection assays as that is ultimately proof the activities are not on the outside but really in the organelle!

Have your say

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sign up to customise the site to your preferences and to receive alerts

Register here

Also in the biochemistry category:

Triglyceride metabolism controls inflammation and APOE4-associated disease states in microglia

Roxan A. Stephenson, Kory R. Johnson, Linling Cheng, et al.

Selected by 22 August 2024

Gustavo Stelzer, Marcus Oliveira

Biochemistry

Impaired 26S proteasome causes learning and memory deficiency and induces neuroinflammation mediated by NF-κB in mice

Christa C. Huber, Eduardo Callegari, Maria Paez, et al.

Selected by 22 August 2024

Gustavo Stelzer, Marcus Oliveira

Biochemistry

Notch3 is a genetic modifier of NODAL signalling for patterning asymmetry during mouse heart looping

Tobias Holm Bønnelykke, Marie-Amandine Chabry, Emeline Perthame, et al.

Selected by 06 June 2024

Bhaval Parmar

Developmental Biology

Also in the cell biology category:

Restoring mechanophenotype reverts malignant properties of ECM-enriched vocal fold cancer

Jasmin Kaivola, Karolina Punovuori, Megan R. Chastney, et al.

Selected by 19 December 2024

Teodora Piskova

Cancer Biology

Germplasm stability in zebrafish requires maternal Tdrd6a and Tdrd6c

Alessandro Consorte, Yasmin El Sherif, Fridolin Kielisch, et al.

Selected by 13 December 2024

Justin Gutkowski

Developmental Biology

Leukocytes use endothelial membrane tunnels to extravasate the vasculature

Werner J. van der Meer, Abraham C.I. van Steen, Eike Mahlandt, et al.

Selected by 08 December 2024

Felipe Del Valle Batalla

Cell Biology

Also in the microbiology category:

Green synthesized silver nanoparticles from Moringa: Potential for preventative treatment of SARS-CoV-2 contaminated water

Adebayo J. Bello, Omorilewa B. Ebunoluwa, Rukayat O. Ayorinde, et al.

Selected by 14 November 2024

Safieh Shah, Benjamin Dominik Maier

Epidemiology

Intracellular diffusion in the cytoplasm increases with cell size in fission yeast

Catherine Tan, Michael C. Lanz, Matthew Swaffer, et al.

Selected by 18 October 2024

Leeba Ann Chacko, Sameer Thukral

Cell Biology

Significantly reduced, but balanced, rates of mitochondrial fission and fusion are sufficient to maintain the integrity of yeast mitochondrial DNA

Brett T. Wisniewski, Laura L. Lackner

Selected by 30 August 2024

Leeba Ann Chacko

Cell Biology

preLists in the biochemistry category:

BSCB-Biochemical Society 2024 Cell Migration meeting

This preList features preprints that were discussed and presented during the BSCB-Biochemical Society 2024 Cell Migration meeting in Birmingham, UK in April 2024. Kindly put together by Sara Morais da Silva, Reviews Editor at Journal of Cell Science.

 



List by Reinier Prosee

Peer Review in Biomedical Sciences

Communication of scientific knowledge has changed dramatically in recent decades and the public perception of scientific discoveries depends on the peer review process of articles published in scientific journals. Preprints are key vehicles for the dissemination of scientific discoveries, but they are still not properly recognized by the scientific community since peer review is very limited. On the other hand, peer review is very heterogeneous and a fundamental aspect to improve it is to train young scientists on how to think critically and how to evaluate scientific knowledge in a professional way. Thus, this course aims to: i) train students on how to perform peer review of scientific manuscripts in a professional manner; ii) develop students' critical thinking; iii) contribute to the appreciation of preprints as important vehicles for the dissemination of scientific knowledge without restrictions; iv) contribute to the development of students' curricula, as their opinions will be published and indexed on the preLights platform. The evaluations will be based on qualitative analyses of the oral presentations of preprints in the field of biomedical sciences deposited in the bioRxiv server, of the critical reports written by the students, as well as of the participation of the students during the preprints discussions.

 



List by Marcus Oliveira et al.

CellBio 2022 – An ASCB/EMBO Meeting

This preLists features preprints that were discussed and presented during the CellBio 2022 meeting in Washington, DC in December 2022.

 



List by Nadja Hümpfer et al.

20th “Genetics Workshops in Hungary”, Szeged (25th, September)

In this annual conference, Hungarian geneticists, biochemists and biotechnologists presented their works. Link: http://group.szbk.u-szeged.hu/minikonf/archive/prg2021.pdf

 



List by Nándor Lipták

Fibroblasts

The advances in fibroblast biology preList explores the recent discoveries and preprints of the fibroblast world. Get ready to immerse yourself with this list created for fibroblasts aficionados and lovers, and beyond. Here, my goal is to include preprints of fibroblast biology, heterogeneity, fate, extracellular matrix, behavior, topography, single-cell atlases, spatial transcriptomics, and their matrix!

 



List by Osvaldo Contreras

ASCB EMBO Annual Meeting 2019

A collection of preprints presented at the 2019 ASCB EMBO Meeting in Washington, DC (December 7-11)

 



List by Madhuja Samaddar et al.

EMBL Seeing is Believing – Imaging the Molecular Processes of Life

Preprints discussed at the 2019 edition of Seeing is Believing, at EMBL Heidelberg from the 9th-12th October 2019

 



List by Dey Lab

Cellular metabolism

A curated list of preprints related to cellular metabolism at Biorxiv by Pablo Ranea Robles from the Prelights community. Special interest on lipid metabolism, peroxisomes and mitochondria.

 



List by Pablo Ranea Robles

MitoList

This list of preprints is focused on work expanding our knowledge on mitochondria in any organism, tissue or cell type, from the normal biology to the pathology.

 



List by Sandra Franco Iborra

Also in the cell biology category:

November in preprints – the CellBio edition

This is the first community-driven preList! A group of preLighters, with expertise in different areas of cell biology, have worked together to create this preprint reading lists for researchers with an interest in cell biology. Categories include: 1) cancer cell biology 2) cell cycle and division 3) cell migration and cytoskeleton 4) cell organelles and organisation 5) cell signalling and mechanosensing 6) genetics/gene expression

 



List by Felipe Del Valle Batalla et al.

BSCB-Biochemical Society 2024 Cell Migration meeting

This preList features preprints that were discussed and presented during the BSCB-Biochemical Society 2024 Cell Migration meeting in Birmingham, UK in April 2024. Kindly put together by Sara Morais da Silva, Reviews Editor at Journal of Cell Science.

 



List by Reinier Prosee

‘In preprints’ from Development 2022-2023

A list of the preprints featured in Development's 'In preprints' articles between 2022-2023

 



List by Alex Eve, Katherine Brown

preLights peer support – preprints of interest

This is a preprint repository to organise the preprints and preLights covered through the 'preLights peer support' initiative.

 



List by preLights peer support

The Society for Developmental Biology 82nd Annual Meeting

This preList is made up of the preprints discussed during the Society for Developmental Biology 82nd Annual Meeting that took place in Chicago in July 2023.

 



List by Joyce Yu, Katherine Brown

CSHL 87th Symposium: Stem Cells

Preprints mentioned by speakers at the #CSHLsymp23

 



List by Alex Eve

Journal of Cell Science meeting ‘Imaging Cell Dynamics’

This preList highlights the preprints discussed at the JCS meeting 'Imaging Cell Dynamics'. The meeting was held from 14 - 17 May 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal and was organised by Erika Holzbaur, Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Rob Parton and Michael Way.

 



List by Helen Zenner

9th International Symposium on the Biology of Vertebrate Sex Determination

This preList contains preprints discussed during the 9th International Symposium on the Biology of Vertebrate Sex Determination. This conference was held in Kona, Hawaii from April 17th to 21st 2023.

 



List by Martin Estermann

Alumni picks – preLights 5th Birthday

This preList contains preprints that were picked and highlighted by preLights Alumni - an initiative that was set up to mark preLights 5th birthday. More entries will follow throughout February and March 2023.

 



List by Sergio Menchero et al.

CellBio 2022 – An ASCB/EMBO Meeting

This preLists features preprints that were discussed and presented during the CellBio 2022 meeting in Washington, DC in December 2022.

 



List by Nadja Hümpfer et al.

Fibroblasts

The advances in fibroblast biology preList explores the recent discoveries and preprints of the fibroblast world. Get ready to immerse yourself with this list created for fibroblasts aficionados and lovers, and beyond. Here, my goal is to include preprints of fibroblast biology, heterogeneity, fate, extracellular matrix, behavior, topography, single-cell atlases, spatial transcriptomics, and their matrix!

 



List by Osvaldo Contreras

EMBL Synthetic Morphogenesis: From Gene Circuits to Tissue Architecture (2021)

A list of preprints mentioned at the #EESmorphoG virtual meeting in 2021.

 



List by Alex Eve

FENS 2020

A collection of preprints presented during the virtual meeting of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) in 2020

 



List by Ana Dorrego-Rivas

Planar Cell Polarity – PCP

This preList contains preprints about the latest findings on Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) in various model organisms at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels.

 



List by Ana Dorrego-Rivas

BioMalPar XVI: Biology and Pathology of the Malaria Parasite

[under construction] Preprints presented at the (fully virtual) EMBL BioMalPar XVI, 17-18 May 2020 #emblmalaria

 



List by Dey Lab, Samantha Seah

1

Cell Polarity

Recent research from the field of cell polarity is summarized in this list of preprints. It comprises of studies focusing on various forms of cell polarity ranging from epithelial polarity, planar cell polarity to front-to-rear polarity.

 



List by Yamini Ravichandran

TAGC 2020

Preprints recently presented at the virtual Allied Genetics Conference, April 22-26, 2020. #TAGC20

 



List by Maiko Kitaoka et al.

3D Gastruloids

A curated list of preprints related to Gastruloids (in vitro models of early development obtained by 3D aggregation of embryonic cells). Updated until July 2021.

 



List by Paul Gerald L. Sanchez and Stefano Vianello

ECFG15 – Fungal biology

Preprints presented at 15th European Conference on Fungal Genetics 17-20 February 2020 Rome

 



List by Hiral Shah

ASCB EMBO Annual Meeting 2019

A collection of preprints presented at the 2019 ASCB EMBO Meeting in Washington, DC (December 7-11)

 



List by Madhuja Samaddar et al.

EMBL Seeing is Believing – Imaging the Molecular Processes of Life

Preprints discussed at the 2019 edition of Seeing is Believing, at EMBL Heidelberg from the 9th-12th October 2019

 



List by Dey Lab

Autophagy

Preprints on autophagy and lysosomal degradation and its role in neurodegeneration and disease. Includes molecular mechanisms, upstream signalling and regulation as well as studies on pharmaceutical interventions to upregulate the process.

 



List by Sandra Malmgren Hill

Lung Disease and Regeneration

This preprint list compiles highlights from the field of lung biology.

 



List by Rob Hynds

Cellular metabolism

A curated list of preprints related to cellular metabolism at Biorxiv by Pablo Ranea Robles from the Prelights community. Special interest on lipid metabolism, peroxisomes and mitochondria.

 



List by Pablo Ranea Robles

BSCB/BSDB Annual Meeting 2019

Preprints presented at the BSCB/BSDB Annual Meeting 2019

 



List by Dey Lab

Biophysical Society Annual Meeting 2019

Few of the preprints that were discussed in the recent BPS annual meeting at Baltimore, USA

 



List by Joseph Jose Thottacherry

ASCB/EMBO Annual Meeting 2018

This list relates to preprints that were discussed at the recent ASCB conference.

 



List by Dey Lab, Amanda Haage
Close