Centrosome Remodelling in Evolution (2018)

The centrosome is the major microtubule organizing centre (MTOC) in animal cells. The canonical centrosome is composed of two centrioles surrounded by a pericentriolar matrix (PCM). In contrast, yeasts and amoebozoa have lost centrioles and possess acentriolar centrosomes—called the spindle pole body (SPB) and the nucleus-associated body (NAB), respectively. Despite the difference in their structures, centriolar centrosomes and SPBs not only share components but also common biogenesis regulators.

Acentriolar centrosomes should continue to be a great model to understand how centrosomes evolved and how centrosome biogenesis is regulated.

In the field of centrosome biology, the yeast SPB has been described as “equivalent to the centrosome” but its evolution and origin have been less understood and discussed.

the PCM is remarkably conserved in terms of molecular composition and regulation due to its indispensable function to nucleate microtubules at the centrosome.

analyses of the centrosome structure, components and functions from a greater variety of species give us more hints in order to reconstitute the evolutionary history of the centrosome and understand how the ancestral centrosome was remodelled and diverse structures arose. Better understanding the centrosome evolution will lead to discovering the essential and fundamental mechanism to assemble the functional organelle. The diverged centrosomes should continue to be a great model to understand how the centrosomes evolved and biogenesis is regulated.