Indian Scientists Unravel the Birth of Complex Cells.
Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) studied how simple microbes evolved into complex life forms like animals, plants, and fungi. Their research focuses on the cytoskeleton – a network of protein filaments that gives cells shape, helps them move, organizes their parts, and controls division.
Modern cytoskeletons are made of actin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments. But their origins trace back to ancient microbes, especially a group called Asgard archaea, thought to be the closest relatives of all complex cells.
The team studied proteins from an Asgard species, Odinarchaeota yellowstonii, and found two ancient proteins, FtsZ1 and FtsZ2, which behave differently:
- FtsZ1 forms curved single filaments like those in bacteria.
- FtsZ2 forms spiral rings that look like primitive microtubules.
They also attach to cell membranes differently, showing an early form of division of labour in structural proteins. This could mark a key step in the evolution of modern cytoskeletons.
The study suggests that gene duplication and specialisation in such microbes laid the foundation for the complex cell structures we see today. Future work aims to grow Asgard archaea in labs to study these proteins directly.
