We review and document the evolutionary origin of all complex I assembly factors and nine supernumerary subunits from protein families. Based on experimental data and the conservation of critical residues we identify a spectrum of protein function conservation between the complex I representatives and their non-complex I homologs. This spectrum ranges from proteins that have retained their molecular function but in which the substrate specificity may have changed or have become more specific, like NDUFAF5, to proteins that have lost their original molecular function and critical catalytic residues like NDUFAF6. In between are proteins that have retained their molecular function, which however appears unrelated to complex I, like ACAD9, or proteins in which amino acids of the active site are conserved but for which no enzymatic activity has been reported, like NDUFA10. We interpret complex I evolution against the background of molecular evolution theory. Complex I supernumerary subunits and assembly factors appear to have been recruited from proteins that are mitochondrial and/or that are expressed when complex I is active. Within the evolution of complex I and its assembly there are many cases of neofunctionalization after gene duplication, like ACAD9 and TMEM126B, one case of subfunctionalization: ACPM1 and ACPM2 in Yarrowia lipolytica, and one case in which a complex I protein itself appears to have been the source of a new protein from another complex: NDUFS6 gave rise to cytochrome c oxidase subunit COX4/COX5b. Complex I and its assembly can therewith be regarded as a treasure trove for pathway evolution. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Respiratory complex I, edited by Volker Zickermann and Ulrich Brandt.
Keywords: Assembly factors; Complex I; ECSIT; Neofunctionalization; Pathway evolution; Supernumerary subunits.
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