Review
On the evolution of cytochrome oxidases consuming oxygen

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2020.148304Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • This review examines insights on the evolution of cytochrome oxidase (COX)

  • Recent evidence suggests that COX might have evolved in iron-oxidizing bacteria

  • Acidithiobacillus and other acidophilic Proteobacteria are their descendent

  • acidophilic Proteobacteria contain ancestral forms of COX assembly proteins

  • deep branching C family oxidases may be the ancestors of COX

Abstract

This review examines the current state of the art on the evolution of the families of Heme Copper Oxygen reductases (HCO) that oxidize cytochrome c and reduce oxygen to water, chiefly cytochrome oxidase, COX. COX is present in many bacterial and most eukaryotic lineages, but its origin has remained elusive. After examining previous proposals for COX evolution, the review summarizes recent insights suggesting that COX enzymes might have evolved in soil dwelling, probably iron-oxidizing bacteria which lived on emerged land over two billion years ago. These bacteria were the likely ancestors of extant acidophilic iron-oxidizers such as Acidithiobacillus spp., which belong to basal lineages of the phylum Proteobacteria. Proteobacteria may thus be considered the originators of COX, which was then laterally transferred to other prokaryotes. The taxonomy of bacteria is presented in relation to the current distribution of COX and C family oxidases, from which COX may have evolved.

Abbreviations

BLAST
Basic Local Alignment Search Tool
COX
cytochrome c oxidase
CPR
Candidate Phyla Radiation
Cup
cupredoxin-domain containing protein
DUF
domain of unknown function
HCO
heme copper oxygen reductases
LGT
lateral gene transfer
LUCA
last universal common ancestor
MAG
metagenome-assembled genome
ML
maximal likelihood
NJ
neighbour joining
NOR
Nitric Oxide Reductase
nr
non redundant NCBI database of proteins
PVC
Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia and Chlamydiae syperphylum
SCO
Synthesis of Cytochrome c Oxidase
TM
transmembrane segment or helix

Keywords

Cytochrome oxidase
Evolution of respiration
Terminal oxidases
Phylogenetic analysis
Bacterial taxonomy

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