The RJL family of small GTPases is an ancient eukaryotic invention probably functionally associated with the flagellar apparatus

Abstract

We found that the RJL GTPase was lost from all taxa lacking flagellated cells and from a few lineages that build structurally unusual or reduced flagella, raising the intriguing possibility that RJL proteins are functionally associated with the flagellar apparatus.

Keywords

• Cilium
• DnaJ
• Evolution
• Horizontal gene transfer
• Ras superfamily