Hypoxia elicits broad molecular and cellular changes in diverse eukaryotes.
These effects are reminiscent of those described for ketone bodies in fasting mammals and raise the possibility that the lifespan extension caused by Tor-S6K inhibition may also involve analogous metabolic changes in higher eukaryotes.
In fact, changes of gene expression in eukaryotes often give rise to new phenotypes and the changes were frequently used as a proxy indicator of functional divergence of genes [ 29].
In Eukaryotes, changes in the protein isoelectric point (iP) may directly influence the localization and reactions of proteins, and it is reasonable to assume that alterations to the global protein iP may interfere in interactions between proteins and complexes.
Flegr [ 30] suggested that, since cell cytoplasm pH is stratified ranging from 6.4 to 7.2 in Eukaryotes, changes in the protein isoelectric point may directly influence the localization and reactions of proteins, and it is reasonable to assume that alterations to the global protein iP may interfere in interactions between proteins and complexes.
Similar to the changes of heme propionate observed in eukaryotes, cyts c2(160, 239− 242) and c6(243, 244, 244) from some prokaryotes also display conformational changes in the heme propionate between the reduced and oxidized states of the protein.
In eukaryotes, heritable changes to chromatin structure are a prominent, but not exclusive, mechanism by which epigenetic changes are mediated.
As suggested in a recent report on centromere DNA sequences divergences found in eukaryotes, those changes observed in the N-terminal region of several CENP-A proteins, could be explained for their specific recruitment at nucleosomes containing different DNA satellite repeat [ 6, 17].
One of the key changes that enabled increased cellular complexity in eukaryotes was the evolution of the cytoskeleton - based ancestrally on actin filaments and tubulin-based microtubules (intermediate filaments most probably only appearing later in a specific lineage).
The findings reported here on this important model genome for a human parasite may change our understanding of chromosome ends in eukaryotes, their biology, evolution and relationship to pathogenesis.
