Rel/NF-κB Transcription Factors Emerged at the Onset of Opisthokonts

The Rel/NF-κB transcription factor family has myriad roles in immunity, development, and differentiation in animals, and was considered a key innovation for animal multicellularity. Rel homology domain-containing proteins were previously hypothesized to have originated in a last common ancestor of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Leger, Michelle M., Ros I Rocher, Nuria Montserrat, Najle, Sebastián R., Ruiz-Trillo, Iñaki
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/272058
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/272058
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:NF-κB
Rel homology domain
Transcription factors
Opisthokonts
NF-kappa B
Description
Summary:The Rel/NF-κB transcription factor family has myriad roles in immunity, development, and differentiation in animals, and was considered a key innovation for animal multicellularity. Rel homology domain-containing proteins were previously hypothesized to have originated in a last common ancestor of animals and some of their closest unicellular relatives. However, key taxa were missing from previous analyses, necessitating a systematic investigation into the distribution and evolution of these proteins. Here, we address this knowledge gap by surveying taxonomically broad data from eukaryotes, with a special emphasis on lineages closely related to animals. We report an earlier origin for Rel/NF-κB proteins than previously described, in the last common ancestor of animals and fungi, and show that even in the sister group to fungi, these proteins contain elements that in animals are necessary for the subcellular regulation of Rel/NF-κB.