A closer look shows that in present-day eukaryotes these Asgard ESPs are involved in the generation of tubular carriers at the ER, endosomes/TGN, and at the plasma membrane. In the review I discuss several new studies showing that Asgard versions of these proteins can indeed generate tubules!
Open questions remain. Intracellular membranes have not so far been confirmed in Asgard archaea. And what of the origin of other eukaryotic organelles? Could they be stabilised versions of ancient tubular carriers? I'd love to hear your thoughts! New preprint: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
It's a great time to be studying eukaryogenesis, with so much new experimental data from diverse species. I want to thank several folks with whom I've been discussing these ideas for many years, especially @buzzbaum.bsky.social, @gautamdey.bsky.social, @ishier.bsky.social, @dackslabecb.bsky.social.