A new study shows a common molecular tool kit shared by organisms across the tree of life and reveals their evolutionary relationships.
The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Toronto researchers discovered the assembly instructions for nearly 1,000 protein complexes shared by most kinds of animals.
The authors of the study identified nearly 1,000 molecular machines critical for the development and survival of species as diverse as sea anemones, worms, mice and humans. They researchers found identical protein complexes required by the cells that organise the proper formation of the head and eye across the different species.
Lead author Edward Marcotte of The University of Texas said that they were able to construct a sort of assembly diagram of how thousands of different proteins come together to carry out their proper roles inside the cells of most kinds of animals, and added by understanding how the protein complexes came together across very different organisms, they could find relevancies to humans and human health.
In the study, researchers collected data on the cellular proteins of nine species representing a broad cross-section of the animal kingdom. The species studied included worms, flies, mice, humans, sea urchins, sea anemones and frogs, and even slime mold and common baker’s yeast.
According to the researchers, they could now predict, with high confidence, more than 1 million protein interactions, which was a ‘big step’ moving the goal posts forward in terms of protein interaction networks.
