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Shatilovich A, Gade VR, Pippel M, Hoffmeyer TT, Tchesunov AV, Stevens L, Winkler S, Hughes GM, Traikov S, Hiller M, Rivkina E, Schiffer PH, Myers EW, Kurzchalia TV. A novel nematode species from the Siberian permafrost shares adaptive mechanisms for cryptobiotic survival with C. elegans dauer larva. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1010798. [PMID: 37498820 PMCID: PMC10374039 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Some organisms in nature have developed the ability to enter a state of suspended metabolism called cryptobiosis when environmental conditions are unfavorable. This state-transition requires execution of a combination of genetic and biochemical pathways that enable the organism to survive for prolonged periods. Recently, nematode individuals have been reanimated from Siberian permafrost after remaining in cryptobiosis. Preliminary analysis indicates that these nematodes belong to the genera Panagrolaimus and Plectus. Here, we present precise radiocarbon dating indicating that the Panagrolaimus individuals have remained in cryptobiosis since the late Pleistocene (~46,000 years). Phylogenetic inference based on our genome assembly and a detailed morphological analysis demonstrate that they belong to an undescribed species, which we named Panagrolaimus kolymaensis. Comparative genome analysis revealed that the molecular toolkit for cryptobiosis in P. kolymaensis and in C. elegans is partly orthologous. We show that biochemical mechanisms employed by these two species to survive desiccation and freezing under laboratory conditions are similar. Our experimental evidence also reveals that C. elegans dauer larvae can remain viable for longer periods in suspended animation than previously reported. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that nematodes evolved mechanisms potentially allowing them to suspend life over geological time scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Shatilovich
- Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science RAS, Pushchino, Russia
- Zoological Institute RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Vamshidhar R. Gade
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- Institute of Biochemistry, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Alexei V. Tchesunov
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Lewis Stevens
- Tree of Life, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sylke Winkler
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- DRESDEN concept Genome Center, Dresden, Germany
| | - Graham M. Hughes
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Sofia Traikov
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael Hiller
- Center for Systems Biology, Dresden, Germany
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, Senckenberg Society for Nature Research & Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Elizaveta Rivkina
- Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science RAS, Pushchino, Russia
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Ewe CK, Torres Cleuren YN, Rothman JH. Evolution and Developmental System Drift in the Endoderm Gene Regulatory Network of Caenorhabditis and Other Nematodes. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8:170. [PMID: 32258041 PMCID: PMC7093329 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental gene regulatory networks (GRNs) underpin metazoan embryogenesis and have undergone substantial modification to generate the tremendous variety of animal forms present on Earth today. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a central model for advancing many important discoveries in fundamental mechanistic biology and, more recently, has provided a strong base from which to explore the evolutionary diversification of GRN architecture and developmental processes in other species. In this short review, we will focus on evolutionary diversification of the GRN for the most ancient of the embryonic germ layers, the endoderm. Early embryogenesis diverges considerably across the phylum Nematoda. Notably, while some species deploy regulative development, more derived species, such as C. elegans, exhibit largely mosaic modes of embryogenesis. Despite the relatively similar morphology of the nematode gut across species, widespread variation has been observed in the signaling inputs that initiate the endoderm GRN, an exemplar of developmental system drift (DSD). We will explore how genetic variation in the endoderm GRN helps to drive DSD at both inter- and intraspecies levels, thereby resulting in a robust developmental system. Comparative studies using divergent nematodes promise to unveil the genetic mechanisms controlling developmental plasticity and provide a paradigm for the principles governing evolutionary modification of an embryonic GRN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chee Kiang Ewe
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | | | - Joel H. Rothman
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
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Evolutionary Dynamics of the SKN-1 → MED → END-1,3 Regulatory Gene Cascade in Caenorhabditis Endoderm Specification. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2020; 10:333-356. [PMID: 31740453 PMCID: PMC6945043 DOI: 10.1534/g3.119.400724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Gene regulatory networks and their evolution are important in the study of animal development. In the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, the endoderm (gut) is generated from a single embryonic precursor, E. Gut is specified by the maternal factor SKN-1, which activates the MED → END-1,3 → ELT-2,7 cascade of GATA transcription factors. In this work, genome sequences from over two dozen species within the Caenorhabditis genus are used to identify MED and END-1,3 orthologs. Predictions are validated by comparison of gene structure, protein conservation, and putative cis-regulatory sites. All three factors occur together, but only within the Elegans supergroup, suggesting they originated at its base. The MED factors are the most diverse and exhibit an unexpectedly extensive gene amplification. In contrast, the highly conserved END-1 orthologs are unique in nearly all species and share extended regions of conservation. The END-1,3 proteins share a region upstream of their zinc finger and an unusual amino-terminal poly-serine domain exhibiting high codon bias. Compared with END-1, the END-3 proteins are otherwise less conserved as a group and are typically found as paralogous duplicates. Hence, all three factors are under different evolutionary constraints. Promoter comparisons identify motifs that suggest the SKN-1, MED, and END factors function in a similar gut specification network across the Elegans supergroup that has been conserved for tens of millions of years. A model is proposed to account for the rapid origin of this essential kernel in the gut specification network, by the upstream intercalation of duplicate genes into a simpler ancestral network.
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Schiffer PH, Danchin EGJ, Burnell AM, Creevey CJ, Wong S, Dix I, O'Mahony G, Culleton BA, Rancurel C, Stier G, Martínez-Salazar EA, Marconi A, Trivedi U, Kroiher M, Thorne MAS, Schierenberg E, Wiehe T, Blaxter M. Signatures of the Evolution of Parthenogenesis and Cryptobiosis in the Genomes of Panagrolaimid Nematodes. iScience 2019; 21:587-602. [PMID: 31759330 PMCID: PMC6889759 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.10.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Most animal species reproduce sexually and fully parthenogenetic lineages are usually short lived in evolution. Still, parthenogenesis may be advantageous as it avoids the cost of sex and permits colonization by single individuals. Panagrolaimid nematodes have colonized environments ranging from arid deserts to Arctic and Antarctic biomes. Many are obligatory meiotic parthenogens, and most have cryptobiotic abilities, being able to survive repeated cycles of complete desiccation and freezing. To identify systems that may contribute to these striking abilities, we sequenced and compared the genomes and transcriptomes of parthenogenetic and outcrossing panagrolaimid species, including cryptobionts and non-cryptobionts. The parthenogens are triploids, most likely originating through hybridization. Adaptation to cryptobiosis shaped the genomes of panagrolaimid nematodes and is associated with the expansion of gene families and signatures of selection on genes involved in cryptobiosis. All panagrolaimids have acquired genes through horizontal gene transfer, some of which are likely to contribute to cryptobiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp H Schiffer
- CLOE, Department for Biosciences, University College London, London, UK; Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50674 Köln, Germany; Institut für Genetik, Universität zu Köln, 50674 Köln, Germany.
| | | | - Ann M Burnell
- Maynooth University Department of Biology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
| | | | - Simon Wong
- Irish Centre for High-End Computing, Tower Building, Trinity Technology & Enterprise Campus, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin D02 HP83, Ireland
| | - Ilona Dix
- Maynooth University Department of Biology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
| | - Georgina O'Mahony
- Maynooth University Department of Biology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
| | - Bridget A Culleton
- Maynooth University Department of Biology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland; Megazyme, Bray Business Park, Bray, Co. Wicklow A98 YV29, Ireland
| | | | - Gary Stier
- Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50674 Köln, Germany
| | - Elizabeth A Martínez-Salazar
- Unidad Académica de Ciencias Biológicas, Laboratorio de Colecciones Biológicas y Sistemática Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Zacatecas, México
| | - Aleksandra Marconi
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Urmi Trivedi
- Edinburgh Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Michael Kroiher
- Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50674 Köln, Germany
| | - Michael A S Thorne
- British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
| | | | - Thomas Wiehe
- Institut für Genetik, Universität zu Köln, 50674 Köln, Germany
| | - Mark Blaxter
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK; Edinburgh Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
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Schiffer PH, Polsky AL, Cole AG, Camps JIR, Kroiher M, Silver DH, Grishkevich V, Anavy L, Koutsovoulos G, Hashimshony T, Yanai I. The gene regulatory program of Acrobeloides nanus reveals conservation of phylum-specific expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:4459-4464. [PMID: 29626130 PMCID: PMC5924915 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720817115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of development has been studied through the lens of gene regulation by examining either closely related species or extremely distant animals of different phyla. In nematodes, detailed cell- and stage-specific expression analyses are focused on the model Caenorhabditis elegans, in part leading to the view that the developmental expression of gene cascades in this species is archetypic for the phylum. Here, we compared two species of an intermediate evolutionary distance: the nematodes C. elegans (clade V) and Acrobeloides nanus (clade IV). To examine A. nanus molecularly, we sequenced its genome and identified the expression profiles of all genes throughout embryogenesis. In comparison with C. elegans, A. nanus exhibits a much slower embryonic development and has a capacity for regulative compensation of missing early cells. We detected conserved stages between these species at the transcriptome level, as well as a prominent middevelopmental transition, at which point the two species converge in terms of their gene expression. Interestingly, we found that genes originating at the dawn of the Ecdysozoa supergroup show the least expression divergence between these two species. This led us to detect a correlation between the time of expression of a gene and its phylogenetic age: evolutionarily ancient and young genes are enriched for expression in early and late embryogenesis, respectively, whereas Ecdysozoa-specific genes are enriched for expression during the middevelopmental transition. Our results characterize the developmental constraints operating on each individual embryo in terms of developmental stages and genetic evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp H Schiffer
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Avital L Polsky
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel
| | - Alison G Cole
- Department of Molecular Evolution and Development, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Julia I R Camps
- Molecular Cell Biology, Institute I for Anatomy University Clinic Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany
| | - Michael Kroiher
- Zoological Institute, Cologne Biocenter, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - David H Silver
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel
| | | | - Leon Anavy
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel
| | - Georgios Koutsovoulos
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, United Kingdom
| | - Tamar Hashimshony
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel
| | - Itai Yanai
- Institute for Computational Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016
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Kraus C, Schiffer PH, Kagoshima H, Hiraki H, Vogt T, Kroiher M, Kohara Y, Schierenberg E. Differences in the genetic control of early egg development and reproduction between C. elegans and its parthenogenetic relative D. coronatus. EvoDevo 2017; 8:16. [PMID: 29075433 PMCID: PMC5648466 DOI: 10.1186/s13227-017-0081-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 10/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The free-living nematode Diploscapter coronatus is the closest known relative of Caenorhabditis elegans with parthenogenetic reproduction. It shows several developmental idiosyncracies, for example concerning the mode of reproduction, embryonic axis formation and early cleavage pattern (Lahl et al. in Int J Dev Biol 50:393-397, 2006). Our recent genome analysis (Hiraki et al. in BMC Genomics 18:478, 2017) provides a solid foundation to better understand the molecular basis of developmental idiosyncrasies in this species in an evolutionary context by comparison with selected other nematodes. Our genomic data also yielded indications for the view that D. coronatus is a product of interspecies hybridization. RESULTS In a genomic comparison between D. coronatus, C. elegans, other representatives of the genus Caenorhabditis and the more distantly related Pristionchus pacificus and Panagrellus redivivus, certain genes required for central developmental processes in C. elegans like control of meiosis and establishment of embryonic polarity were found to be restricted to the genus Caenorhabditis. The mRNA content of early D. coronatus embryos was sequenced and compared with similar stages in C. elegans and Ascaris suum. We identified 350 gene families transcribed in the early embryo of D. coronatus but not in the other two nematodes. Looking at individual genes transcribed early in D. coronatus but not in C. elegans and A. suum, we found that orthologs of most of these are present in the genomes of the latter species as well, suggesting heterochronic shifts with respect to expression behavior. Considerable genomic heterozygosity and allelic divergence lend further support to the view that D. coronatus may be the result of an interspecies hybridization. Expression analysis of early acting single-copy genes yields no indication for silencing of one parental genome. CONCLUSIONS Our comparative cellular and molecular studies support the view that the genus Caenorhabditis differs considerably from the other studied nematodes in its control of development and reproduction. The easy-to-culture parthenogenetic D. coronatus, with its high-quality draft genome and only a single chromosome when haploid, offers many new starting points on the cellular, molecular and genomic level to explore alternative routes of nematode development and reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Kraus
- Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Cologne, NRW Germany
- Present Address: Institute for Genetics, Universität zu Köln, Cologne, NRW Germany
| | - Philipp H. Schiffer
- Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Cologne, NRW Germany
- Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC16BT UK
| | | | | | - Theresa Vogt
- Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Cologne, NRW Germany
- Present Address: Molecular Cell Biology, Institute I for Anatomy University Clinic Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Michael Kroiher
- Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Cologne, NRW Germany
| | - Yuji Kohara
- National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan
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