Ancient ESCRTs and the evolution of binary fission

Eukaryotic and prokaryotic orthologs of tubulin play key roles in DNA segregation and cell division processes. Remarkably, recent studies have revealed that cell division can occur in the absence of this highly conserved protein. Members of the hyperthermophilic crenarchaea, that lack tubulin-like proteins, undergo division by binary fission. Here we review how this process is dependent on archaeal homologs of the eukaryotic ‘endosomal sorting complex required for transport’ (ESCRT) system – an apparatus that plays a pivotal role in a wide range of membrane manipulation processes. Thus, two distinct machineries to drive binary fission have evolved in prokaryotes – one dependent on tubulin-like proteins and one dependent on the ESCRT system.