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Nature 436, 1097-1099 (25 August 2005) | doi:10.1038/4361097a; Published online 24 August 2005

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Evolution:  A treasure trove of motors

Margaret A. Titus1

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The myosins are a superfamily of protein motors. Analysis of their sequences in a wide range of organisms reveals an unexpected variety of domains, and provides insights into the nature of the earliest eukaryotes.

Motor proteins use chemical energy, for example from ATP, to generate unidirectional movement along a filamentous track. How a group of proteins acquired and then varied this property to generate a range of movements as evolution proceeded is a fascinating problem in biology.

  1. Margaret A. Titus is in the Departments of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota, 6-160 Jackson Hall, 321 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
    Email: titus004@umn.edu

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RESEARCH

Myosin domain evolution and the primary divergence of eukaryotes

Nature Article (25 Aug 2005)