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Transgenesis in the acoel worm Hofstenia miamia. Dev Cell 2021; 56:3160-3170.e4. [PMID: 34752780 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The acoel worm Hofstenia miamia, which can replace tissue lost to injury via differentiation of a population of stem cells, has emerged as a new research organism for studying regeneration. To enhance the depth of mechanistic studies in this system, we devised a protocol for microinjection into embryonic cells that resulted in stable transgene integration into the genome and generated animals with tissue-specific fluorescent transgene expression in epidermis, gut, and muscle. We demonstrate that transgenic Hofstenia are amenable to the isolation of specific cell types, investigations of regeneration, tracking of photoconverted molecules, and live imaging. Further, our stable transgenic lines revealed insights into the biology of Hofstenia, including a high-resolution three-dimensional view of cell morphology and the organization of muscle as a cellular scaffold for other tissues. Our work positions Hofstenia as a powerful system with multiple toolkits for mechanistic investigations of development, whole-body regeneration, and stem cell biology.
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Gavilán B, Sprecher SG, Hartenstein V, Martinez P. The digestive system of xenacoelomorphs. Cell Tissue Res 2019; 377:369-382. [PMID: 31093756 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-019-03038-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 04/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Interest in the study of Xenacoelomorpha has recently been revived due to realization of its key phylogenetic position as the putative sister group of the remaining Bilateria. Phylogenomic studies have attracted the attention of researchers interested in the evolution of animals and the origin of novelties. However, it is clear that a proper understanding of novelties can only be gained in the context of thorough descriptions of the anatomy of the different members of this phylum. A considerable literature, based mainly on conventional histological techniques, describes different aspects of xenacoelomorphs' tissue architecture. However, the focus has been somewhat uneven; some tissues, such as the neuro-muscular system, are relatively well described in most groups, whereas others, including the digestive system, are only poorly understood. Our lack of knowledge of the xenacoelomorph digestive system is exacerbated by the assumption that, at least in Acoela, which possess a syncytial gut, the digestive system is a derived and specialized tissue with little bearing on what is observed in other bilaterian animals. Here, we try to remedy this lack of attention by revisiting the different studies of the xenacoelomorph digestive system, and we discuss the diversity present in the light of new evolutionary knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Gavilán
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - S G Sprecher
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 10, ch. Du Musée, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - V Hartenstein
- Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - P Martinez
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institut Català de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
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Haszprunar G. Review of data for a morphological look on Xenacoelomorpha (Bilateria incertae sedis). ORG DIVERS EVOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-015-0249-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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Raikova OI, Meyer-Wachsmuth I, Jondelius U. The plastic nervous system of Nemertodermatida. ORG DIVERS EVOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-015-0248-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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The muscular system of Nemertoderma westbladi and Meara stichopi (Nemertodermatida, Acoelomorpha). ZOOMORPHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00435-013-0191-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Achatz JG, Chiodin M, Salvenmoser W, Tyler S, Martinez P. The Acoela: on their kind and kinships, especially with nemertodermatids and xenoturbellids (Bilateria incertae sedis). ORG DIVERS EVOL 2012; 13:267-286. [PMID: 24098090 PMCID: PMC3789126 DOI: 10.1007/s13127-012-0112-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Acoels are among the simplest worms and therefore have often been pivotal in discussions of the origin of the Bilateria. Initially thought primitive because of their “planula-like” morphology, including their lumenless digestive system, they were subsequently dismissed by many morphologists as a specialized clade of the Platyhelminthes. However, since molecular phylogenies placed them outside the Platyhelminthes and outside all other phyla at the base of the Bilateria, they became the focus of renewed debate and research. We review what is currently known of acoels, including information regarding their morphology, development, systematics, and phylogenetic relationships, and put some of these topics in a historical perspective to show how the application of new methods contributed to the progress in understanding these animals. Taking all available data into consideration, clear-cut conclusions cannot be made; however, in our view it becomes successively clearer that acoelomorphs are a “basal” but “divergent” branch of the Bilateria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes G. Achatz
- Department of Genetics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, edifici annex, planta 2a, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Marta Chiodin
- Department of Genetics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, edifici annex, planta 2a, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Willi Salvenmoser
- Department of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Seth Tyler
- School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, 5751 Murray Hall, Orono, ME 04469 USA
| | - Pedro Martinez
- Department of Genetics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, edifici annex, planta 2a, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys, 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
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Jondelius U, Wallberg A, Hooge M, Raikova OI. How the worm got its pharynx: phylogeny, classification and Bayesian assessment of character evolution in Acoela. Syst Biol 2011; 60:845-71. [PMID: 21828080 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syr073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Acoela are marine microscopic worms currently thought to be the sister taxon of all other bilaterians. Acoels have long been used as models in evolutionary scenarios, and generalized conclusions about acoel and bilaterian ancestral features are frequently drawn from studies of single acoel species. There is no extensive phylogenetic study of Acoela and the taxonomy of the 380 species is chaotic. Here we use two nuclear ribosomal genes and one mitochondrial gene in combination with 37 morphological characters in an analysis of 126 acoel terminals (about one-third of the described species) to estimate the phylogeny and character evolution of Acoela. We present an estimate of posterior probabilities for ancestral character states at 31 control nodes in the phylogeny. The overall reconstruction signal based on the shape of the posterior distribution of character states was computed for all morphological characters and control nodes to assess how well these were reconstructed. The body-wall musculature appears more clearly reconstructed than the reproductive organs. Posterior similarity to the root was calculated by averaging the divergence between the posterior distributions at the nodes and the root over all morphological characters. Diopisthoporidae is the sister group to all other acoels and has the highest posterior similarity to the root. Convolutidae, including several "model" acoels, is most divergent. Finally, we present a phylogenetic classification of Acoela down to the family level where six previous family level taxa are synonymized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulf Jondelius
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Bery A, Cardona A, Martinez P, Hartenstein V. Structure of the central nervous system of a juvenile acoel, Symsagittifera roscoffensis. Dev Genes Evol 2010; 220:61-76. [PMID: 20549514 PMCID: PMC2929339 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-010-0328-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2010] [Accepted: 05/19/2010] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The neuroarchitecture of Acoela has been at the center of morphological debates. Some authors, using immunochemical tools, suggest that the nervous system in Acoela is organized as a commissural brain that bears little resemblance to the central, ganglionic type brain of other flatworms, and bilaterians in general. Others, who used histological staining on paraffin sections, conclude that it is a compact structure (an endonal brain; e.g., Raikova 2004; von Graff 1891; Delage Arch Zool Exp Gén 4:109-144, 1886). To address this question with modern tools, we have obtained images from serial transmission electron microscopic sections of the entire hatchling of Symsagittifera roscoffensis. In addition, we obtained data from wholemounts of hatchlings labeled with markers for serotonin and tyrosinated tubulin. Our data show that the central nervous system of a juvenile S. roscoffensis consists of an anterior compact brain, formed by a dense, bilobed mass of neuronal cell bodies surrounding a central neuropile. The neuropile flanks the median statocyst and contains several types of neurites, classified according to their types of synaptic vesicles. The neuropile issues three pairs of nerve cords that run at different dorso-ventral positions along the whole length of the body. Neuronal cell bodies flank the cords, and neuromuscular synapses are abundant. The TEM analysis also reveals different classes of peripheral sensory neurons and provides valuable information about the spatial relationships between neurites and other cell types within the brain and nerve cords. We conclude that the acoel S. roscoffensis has a central brain that is comparable in size and architecture to the brain of other (rhabditophoran) flatworms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandine Bery
- Laboratoire de Développement, Evolution, Plasticité du Système Nerveux, CNRS Institut de Neurobiologie Alfred Fessard, Bâtiment 33, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
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Achatz JG, Hooge M, Wallberg A, Jondelius U, Tyler S. Systematic revision of acoels with 9+0 sperm ultrastructure (Convolutida) and the influence of sexual conflict on morphology. J ZOOL SYST EVOL RES 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0469.2009.00555.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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