Origin of the Eukaryotic cell: Part II - Cytoskeleton, membranes, and beyond
(Phys.org) —In Part I of our review of the new book "The Origin and Evolution of the Eukaryotic Cell" we talked about the acquisition of endosymbionts by cells. While there we focused on some of the genetic issues involved in acquiring mitochondria, here we want to focus on some of the other structural features that defined eukaryotic evolution. One approach that many of the chapter authors take is to examine the ways in which different bacterial and archaeal cells solve the universal problems of building membranes, organizing DNA, and constructing cilia or flagella to move things about. If prevailing intuitions are right, then once we are armed with sufficient knowledge regarding which primitive bacteria bear the rudimentary traces of the major innovations that define eukaryotic cells then the one true evolutionary path should be laid bare before us.