Eukaryote

Summary

The eukaryotes constitute the domain of Eukaryota (juːˈkærioʊts,_-əts), organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms are eukaryotes. They constitute a major group of life forms, alongside the two groups of prokaryotes, the Bacteria and the Archaea. Eukaryotes represent a small minority of the number of organisms, but due to their generally much larger size, their collective global biomass is much larger than that of prokaryotes. The eukaryotes seemingly emerged in the Archaea, within the Asgard archaea. This implies that there are only two domains of life, Bacteria and Archaea, with eukaryotes incorporated among the Archaea. Eukaryotes emerged approximately 2.2 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic eon, likely as flagellated cells. These were created by symbiogenesis between an anaerobic Asgard archaean and an aerobic proteobacterium, which formed the mitochondria. A second episode of symbiogenesis with a cyanobacterium created

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eukaryote

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Carbon nanotube uptake in cyanobacteria for near-infrared imaging and enhanced bioelectricity generation in living photovoltaics

Alessandra Antonucci, Ardemis Anoush Boghossian, Alice Judith Gillen, Benjamin Paul Johanès Gabriel Lambert, Mohammed Mouhib, Melania Reggente, Charlotte Elisabeth Marie Roullier, Nils Schürgers, Vitalijs Zubkovs

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have unique optoelectronic properties that make them suitable for applications ranging from phototherapy to imaging and sensing, but their uptake has mainly been explored in eukaryotic cells. Here the authors explore the interaction of SWCNTs with cyanobacteria, showing that they are spontaneously taken up by cells only when coated with positive charges, opening the possibility of prokaryotic-based biotechnology applications. The distinctive properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have inspired the development of many novel applications in the field of cell nanobiotechnology. However, studies thus far have not explored the effect of SWCNT functionalization on transport across the cell walls of prokaryotes. We explore the uptake of SWCNTs in Gram-negative cyanobacteria and demonstrate a passive length-dependent and selective internalization of SWCNTs decorated with positively charged biomolecules. We show that lysozyme-coated SWCNTs spontaneously penetrate the cell walls of a unicellular strain and a multicellular strain. A custom-built spinning-disc confocal microscope was used to image the distinct near-infrared SWCNT fluorescence within the autofluorescent cells, revealing a highly inhomogeneous distribution of SWCNTs. Real-time near-infrared monitoring of cell growth and division reveal that the SWCNTs are inherited by daughter cells. Moreover, these nanobionic living cells retained photosynthetic activity and showed an improved photo-exoelectrogenicity when incorporated into bioelectrochemical devices.

2022

, ,

The role of lipids in eukaryotic cells is of high importance. They are one of the main components of cell membranes, act as storage of high potential energy as well as being a scaffold of signaling proteins or participate in signaling themselves. Many diseases are associated with alterations in the lipid distribution in the cell and the composition of membrane domains. Metabolic syndrome, obesity, atherosclerosis, as well as Alzheimer’s, Huttington diseases and cancer, all originate from alterations in some stage of lipid biosynthesis. Therefore, advancement of knowledge in the field of lipid metabolism will provide novel insights for further biomedical research and potential strategies for drug development. Fatty acids are the backbone of the lipid metabolism. Being lipids themselves they also participate in the biosynthesis of the majority of the lipid classes. Thus, the study of their synthesis and biotransformation in a cell constitutes the basic step towards a systematic investigation of the phenomena attributed to lipids. In the current study we reconstructed a comprehensive representation of the biosynthesis of fatty acids in a model eukaryote such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The model accounts for approximately 300 reactions and 230 metabolites, taking part in 3 compartments of the cell, describing the steps of synthesis, elongation and β-oxidation of fatty acids. We make use of other systems approaches in order to identify the input fluxes to the model and we explore the diverse capabilities of the network with respect to flux profiles and distribution of fatty acids.

2013

Mechanisms protecting host cells against bacterial pore-forming toxins

Francisco De Magalhães Sarmento R De Mesquita

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are key virulence determinants produced and secreted by a variety of human bacterial pathogens. They disrupt the plasma membrane (PM) by generating stable protein pores, which allow uncontrolled exchanges between the extracellular and intracellular milieus, dramatically disturbing cellular homeostasis. In recent years, many advances were made regarding the characterization of conserved repair mechanisms that allow eukaryotic cells to recover from mechanical disruption of the PM membrane. However, the specificities of the cell recovery pathways that protect host cells against PFT-induced damage remain remarkably elusive. During bacterial infections, the coordinated action of such cell recovery processes defines the outcome of infected cells and is, thus, critical for our understanding of bacterial pathogenesis. Here, we review the cellular pathways reported to be involved in the response to bacterial PFTs and discuss their impact in single-cell recovery and infection.

SPRINGER BASEL AG2019