101
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Cai X, Wang X, Patel S, Clapham DE. Insights into the early evolution of animal calcium signaling machinery: a unicellular point of view. Cell Calcium 2014; 57:166-73. [PMID: 25498309 PMCID: PMC4355082 DOI: 10.1016/j.ceca.2014.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2014] [Revised: 11/18/2014] [Accepted: 11/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The basic principles of Ca(2+) regulation emerged early in prokaryotes. Ca(2+) signaling acquired more extensive and varied functions when life evolved into multicellular eukaryotes with intracellular organelles. Animals, fungi and plants display differences in the mechanisms that control cytosolic Ca(2+) concentrations. The aim of this review is to examine recent findings from comparative genomics of Ca(2+) signaling molecules in close unicellular relatives of animals and in common unicellular ancestors of animals and fungi. Also discussed are the evolution and origins of the sperm-specific CatSper channel complex, cation/Ca(2+) exchangers and four-domain voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels. Newly identified evolutionary evidence suggests that the distinct Ca(2+) signaling machineries in animals, plants and fungi likely originated from an ancient Ca(2+) signaling machinery prior to early eukaryotic radiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinjiang Cai
- Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA.
| | - Xiangbing Wang
- Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA
| | - Sandip Patel
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - David E Clapham
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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102
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Rainey PB, De Monte S. Resolving Conflicts During the Evolutionary Transition to Multicellular Life. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2014. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paul B. Rainey
- New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study and Allan Wilson Center for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Massey University, Auckland 0745, New Zealand;
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306 Plön, Germany
| | - Silvia De Monte
- Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, UMR CNRS 8197 INSERM 1024, F-75005 Paris, France;
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103
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Fritzsch B, Jahan I, Pan N, Elliott KL. Evolving gene regulatory networks into cellular networks guiding adaptive behavior: an outline how single cells could have evolved into a centralized neurosensory system. Cell Tissue Res 2014; 359:295-313. [PMID: 25416504 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-014-2043-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2014] [Accepted: 10/20/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the evolution of the neurosensory system of man, able to reflect on its own origin, is one of the major goals of comparative neurobiology. Details of the origin of neurosensory cells, their aggregation into central nervous systems and associated sensory organs and their localized patterning leading to remarkably different cell types aggregated into variably sized parts of the central nervous system have begun to emerge. Insights at the cellular and molecular level have begun to shed some light on the evolution of neurosensory cells, partially covered in this review. Molecular evidence suggests that high mobility group (HMG) proteins of pre-metazoans evolved into the definitive Sox [SRY (sex determining region Y)-box] genes used for neurosensory precursor specification in metazoans. Likewise, pre-metazoan basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) genes evolved in metazoans into the group A bHLH genes dedicated to neurosensory differentiation in bilaterians. Available evidence suggests that the Sox and bHLH genes evolved a cross-regulatory network able to synchronize expansion of precursor populations and their subsequent differentiation into novel parts of the brain or sensory organs. Molecular evidence suggests metazoans evolved patterning gene networks early, which were not dedicated to neuronal development. Only later in evolution were these patterning gene networks tied into the increasing complexity of diffusible factors, many of which were already present in pre-metazoans, to drive local patterning events. It appears that the evolving molecular basis of neurosensory cell development may have led, in interaction with differentially expressed patterning genes, to local network modifications guiding unique specializations of neurosensory cells into sensory organs and various areas of the central nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernd Fritzsch
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, CLAS, 143 BB, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA,
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104
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Abstract
A genetic screen has revealed one of the molecules that allow choanoflagellates, the closest unicellular relative of animals, to form colonies, which could help researchers to answer questions about the earliest days of animal evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex de Mendoza
- Alex de Mendoza is in the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Genètica, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo
- Iñaki Ruiz Trillo is in the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Genètica, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
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105
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Abstract
The green lineage of chlorophyte algae and streptophytes form a large and diverse clade with multiple independent transitions to produce multicellular and/or macroscopically complex organization. In this review, I focus on two of the best-studied multicellular groups of green algae: charophytes and volvocines. Charophyte algae are the closest relatives of land plants and encompass the transition from unicellularity to simple multicellularity. Many of the innovations present in land plants have their roots in the cell and developmental biology of charophyte algae. Volvocine algae evolved an independent route to multicellularity that is captured by a graded series of increasing cell-type specialization and developmental complexity. The study of volvocine algae has provided unprecedented insights into the innovations required to achieve multicellularity.
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Affiliation(s)
- James G Umen
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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106
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Levin TC, Greaney AJ, Wetzel L, King N. The Rosetteless gene controls development in the choanoflagellate S. rosetta. eLife 2014; 3:e04070. [PMID: 25299189 PMCID: PMC4381721 DOI: 10.7554/elife.04070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2014] [Accepted: 10/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin of animal multicellularity may be reconstructed by comparing animals with one of their closest living relatives, the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta. Just as animals develop from a single cell-the zygote-multicellular rosettes of S. rosetta develop from a founding cell. To investigate rosette development, we established forward genetics in S. rosetta. We find that the rosette defect of one mutant, named Rosetteless, maps to a predicted C-type lectin, a class of signaling and adhesion genes required for the development and innate immunity in animals. Rosetteless protein is essential for rosette development and forms an extracellular layer that coats and connects the basal poles of each cell in rosettes. This study provides the first link between genotype and phenotype in choanoflagellates and raises the possibility that a protein with C-type lectin-like domains regulated development in the last common ancestor of choanoflagellates and animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tera C Levin
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Allison J Greaney
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Laura Wetzel
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Nicole King
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
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107
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Braunschweig U, Barbosa-Morais NL, Pan Q, Nachman EN, Alipanahi B, Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis T, Frey B, Irimia M, Blencowe BJ. Widespread intron retention in mammals functionally tunes transcriptomes. Genome Res 2014; 24:1774-86. [PMID: 25258385 PMCID: PMC4216919 DOI: 10.1101/gr.177790.114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 456] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Alternative splicing (AS) of precursor RNAs is responsible for greatly expanding the regulatory and functional capacity of eukaryotic genomes. Of the different classes of AS, intron retention (IR) is the least well understood. In plants and unicellular eukaryotes, IR is the most common form of AS, whereas in animals, it is thought to represent the least prevalent form. Using high-coverage poly(A)+ RNA-seq data, we observe that IR is surprisingly frequent in mammals, affecting transcripts from as many as three-quarters of multiexonic genes. A highly correlated set of cis features comprising an “IR code” reliably discriminates retained from constitutively spliced introns. We show that IR acts widely to reduce the levels of transcripts that are less or not required for the physiology of the cell or tissue type in which they are detected. This “transcriptome tuning” function of IR acts through both nonsense-mediated mRNA decay and nuclear sequestration and turnover of IR transcripts. We further show that IR is linked to a cross-talk mechanism involving localized stalling of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and reduced availability of spliceosomal components. Collectively, the results implicate a global checkpoint-type mechanism whereby reduced recruitment of splicing components coupled to Pol II pausing underlies widespread IR-mediated suppression of inappropriately expressed transcripts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nuno L Barbosa-Morais
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada; Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Qun Pan
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Emil N Nachman
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Babak Alipanahi
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2E4, Canada
| | | | - Brendan Frey
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2E4, Canada
| | - Manuel Irimia
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada;
| | - Benjamin J Blencowe
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada;
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108
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Abstract
In this work we review the current knowledge on the prehistory, origins, and evolution of spliceosomal introns. First, we briefly outline the major features of the different types of introns, with particular emphasis on the nonspliceosomal self-splicing group II introns, which are widely thought to be the ancestors of spliceosomal introns. Next, we discuss the main scenarios proposed for the origin and proliferation of spliceosomal introns, an event intimately linked to eukaryogenesis. We then summarize the evidence that suggests that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) had remarkably high intron densities and many associated characteristics resembling modern intron-rich genomes. From this intron-rich LECA, the different eukaryotic lineages have taken very distinct evolutionary paths leading to profoundly diverged modern genome structures. Finally, we discuss the origins of alternative splicing and the qualitative differences in alternative splicing forms and functions across lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Irimia
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S3E1, Canada
| | - Scott William Roy
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California 94132
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109
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Williams F, Tew HA, Paul CE, Adams JC. The predicted secretomes of Monosiga brevicollis and Capsaspora owczarzaki, close unicellular relatives of metazoans, reveal new insights into the evolution of the metazoan extracellular matrix. Matrix Biol 2014; 37:60-8. [PMID: 24561726 DOI: 10.1016/j.matbio.2014.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2014] [Revised: 02/15/2014] [Accepted: 02/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a major mediator of multi-cellularity in the metazoa. Multiple ECM proteins are conserved from sponges to human, raising questions about the evolutionary origin of ECM. Choanoflagellates are the closest unicellular relatives of the metazoa and proteins with domains characteristic of metazoan ECM proteins have been identified from the genome-predicted proteome of the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis. However, a systematic analysis of M. brevicollis secretory signal peptide-containing proteins with ECM domains has been lacking. We analysed all predicted secretory signal-peptide-containing proteins of M. brevicollis for ECM domains. Nine domains that are widespread in metazoan ECM proteins are represented, with EGF, fibronectin III, laminin G, and von Willebrand Factor_A domains being the most numerous. Three proteins contain more than one category of ECM domain, however, no proteins correspond to the domain architecture of metazoan ECM proteins. The fibronectin III domains are all present within glycoside hydrolases and none contain an integrin-binding motif. Glycosaminoglycan-binding motifs identified in animal thrombospondin type 1 domains are conserved in some M. brevicollis representatives of this domain, whereas there is little evidence of conservation of glycosaminoglycan-binding motifs in the laminin G domains. The identified proteins were compared with the predicted secretory ECM domain-containing proteins of the integrin-expressing filasterean, Capsaspora owczarzaki. C. owczarzaki encodes a smaller number of secretory, ECM domain-containing proteins and only EGF, fibronectin type III and laminin G domains are represented. The M. brevicollis and C. owczarzaki proteins have distinct domain architectures and all proteins differ in their domain architecture to metazoan ECM proteins. These identifications provide a basis for future experiments to validate the extracellular location of these proteins and uncover their functions in choanoflagellates and C. owczarzaki. The data strengthen the model that ECM proteins are metazoan-specific and evolved as innovations in the last common metazoan ancestor.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hannah A Tew
- School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Catherine E Paul
- School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
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110
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Abstract
Could the transient aggregation of unicellular organisms have paved the way for the evolution of the multicellular animals?
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley J S C Olson
- Bradley JSC Olson is in the Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, United States
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