What is it about?
It is generally assumed that evolution is from simple to more complex systems. We show here that this is not always the case. We report on two receptor families in bacteria that bind specifically formate mediating bacterial chemotaxis. Whereas the ancestral family has a sensor domain of about 300 amino acids that form two structural modules, the more recently evolved receptor family has a sensor domain that is half in size comprising only a single structural module.
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Why is it important?
This is important to understand the evolution of proteins and evolution in general. Being more sophisticated is not always an evolutionary advantage.
Perspectives
Future studies will show whether this is an isolated case or whether there are similar events that have occurred in the evolution of other receptor or families.
Tino Krell Krell
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This page is a summary of: Bacterial sensor evolved by decreasing complexity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2409881122.
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