RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Evolutionary PTEN gene divergence underpins the remodeling of plant vacuolar compartments JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2022.01.18.476728 DO 10.1101/2022.01.18.476728 A1 Bojan Gujas A1 Chloe Champeyroux A1 Anna Hunkeler A1 Emilija Robinson A1 Noel Blanco-Touriñán A1 Tiago Miguel Dias Cruz A1 Matthias Van Durme A1 Moritz K. Nowack A1 Antia Rodriguez-Villalon YR 2022 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/20/2022.01.18.476728.abstract AB Membrane fusion and fission are fundamental processes in sustaining cellular compartmentalization. Fission of a lipid bilayer requires a furrow formation that brings membranes in close proximity prior to a contiguous membrane cleavage. Although plant ancestors abandoned cleavage furrow-mediated cytokinesis more than 500 million years ago, here we show that plants still employ this mechanical principle to divide embryonic vacuoles. The evolutionary divergence in PHOSPHATASE AND TENSIN HOMOLOG DELETED ON CHROMOSOME TEN (PTEN) enzymes was required to coordinate this process, as Arabidopsis loss-of-function pten2a pten2b mutants contain hyper compartmentalized embryonic vacuoles. In contrast, PTEN2 overexpression hinders lytic and secretion cellular pathways downstream of TGN in xylem cells. These processes are critical for the formation of secondary cell walls in xylem cells and depend on a poorly characterized and evolutionarily novel N-terminal domain in PTEN2s. The PTEN2 subfamily appeared with the emergence of the Phragmoplastophyta clade, when vacuolar compartments enlarged and cleavage furrow-mediated cytokinesis became extinct. Together, our work suggests that the evolutionary innovation of the PTEN family is conserved across terrestrial plants and central to vacuolar remodelling.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.