Eukaryotes possess an elaborate endomembrane system with endoplasmic reticulum, nucleus,
Golgi, lysosomes, peroxisomes, autophagosomes, and dynamic vesicle traffic. Theories …

How mitochondria came to reside within the cytosol of their host has been debated for 50
years. Though current data indicate that the last eukaryote common ancestor possessed …

The dichotomy that separates prokaryotic from eukaryotic cells runs deep. The transition from
pro- to eukaryote evolution is poorly understood due to a lack of reliable intermediate forms …

Research on the origin of life is highly heterogeneous. After a peculiar historical development,
it still includes strongly opposed views which potentially hinder progress. In the 1st …

Highly specific interactions between proteins are a fundamental prerequisite for life, but how
they evolve remains an unsolved problem. In particular, interactions between initially …

Two eukaryotic compartments are of endosymbiotic origin, the mitochondrion and plastid.
These organelles need to import hundreds of proteins from the cytosol. The import …

Theories for the origin of sex traditionally start with an asexual mitosing cell and add
recombination, thereby deriving meiosis from mitosis. Though sex was clearly present in the …

Two multisubunit protein complexes for membrane protein insertion were recently identified
in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER): the guided entry of tail anchor proteins (GET) complex …

Modern accounts of eukaryogenesis entail an endosymbiotic encounter between an
archaeal host and a proteobacterial endosymbiont, with subsequent evolution giving rise to a …

Two main theories have been put forward to explain the origin of mitochondria in eukaryotes:
phagotrophic engulfment (undigested food) and microbial symbiosis (physiological …