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Nelson DR, Mystikou A, Jaiswal A, Rad-Menendez C, Preston MJ, De Boever F, El Assal DC, Daakour S, Lomas MW, Twizere JC, Green DH, Ratcliff WC, Salehi-Ashtiani K. Macroalgal deep genomics illuminate multiple paths to aquatic, photosynthetic multicellularity. MOLECULAR PLANT 2024; 17:747-771. [PMID: 38614077 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2024.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024]
Abstract
Macroalgae are multicellular, aquatic autotrophs that play vital roles in global climate maintenance and have diverse applications in biotechnology and eco-engineering, which are directly linked to their multicellularity phenotypes. However, their genomic diversity and the evolutionary mechanisms underlying multicellularity in these organisms remain uncharacterized. In this study, we sequenced 110 macroalgal genomes from diverse climates and phyla, and identified key genomic features that distinguish them from their microalgal relatives. Genes for cell adhesion, extracellular matrix formation, cell polarity, transport, and cell differentiation distinguish macroalgae from microalgae across all three major phyla, constituting conserved and unique gene sets supporting multicellular processes. Adhesome genes show phylum- and climate-specific expansions that may facilitate niche adaptation. Collectively, our study reveals genetic determinants of convergent and divergent evolutionary trajectories that have shaped morphological diversity in macroalgae and provides genome-wide frameworks to understand photosynthetic multicellular evolution in aquatic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Nelson
- Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Center for Genomics and Systems Biology (CGSB), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
| | - Alexandra Mystikou
- Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Center for Genomics and Systems Biology (CGSB), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Biotechnology Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute, PO Box 9639, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
| | - Ashish Jaiswal
- Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | - Cecilia Rad-Menendez
- Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, Scotland, UK
| | - Michael J Preston
- National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, USA
| | - Frederik De Boever
- Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, Scotland, UK
| | - Diana C El Assal
- Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | - Sarah Daakour
- Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Center for Genomics and Systems Biology (CGSB), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | - Michael W Lomas
- National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, USA
| | - Jean-Claude Twizere
- Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Laboratory of Viral Interactomes, GIGA Institute, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - David H Green
- Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, Scotland, UK
| | - William C Ratcliff
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani
- Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Center for Genomics and Systems Biology (CGSB), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
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2
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Stricher M, Vigneron P, Delbecq F, Sarde CO, Egles C. The microalga Volvox carteri as a cell supportive building block for tissue engineering. Mater Today Bio 2024; 25:101013. [PMID: 38464496 PMCID: PMC10923841 DOI: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2024.101013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Background V. carteri f. nagariensis constitutes, in its most simplified form, a cellularized spheroid built around and stabilised by a form of primitive extracellular matrix (ECM). Methods We developed a modular approach to soft tissue engineering, by compact stacking V. carteri-based building blocks. This approach is made possible by the structure and cell adhesive properties of these building blocks, which results from the composition of their algal ECM. Results A primary biocompatibility assessment demonstrated the cytocompatibility of the algal suspension, its histogenesis-promoting properties, and that it did not induce an inflammatory response in vitro. These results allowed us to consider the use of this algal suspension for soft tissue augmentation, and to initiate an in vivo biocompatibility study. V. carteri exhibited cellular fate-directing properties, causing (i) fibroblasts to take on an alkaline phosphatase+ stem-cell-like phenotype and (ii) both human adipose-derived stem cells and mouse embryonic stem cells to differentiate into preadipocytes to adipocytes. The ability of V. carteri to support histogenesis and adipogenesis was also observed in vivo by subcutaneous tissue augmentation of athymic mice, highlighting the potential of V. carteri to support or influence tissue regeneration. Conclusions We present for the first time V. carteri as an innovative and inspiring biomaterial for tissue engineering and soft tissue regeneration. Its strategies in terms of shape, structure and composition can be central in the design of a new generation of bio-inspired heterogeneous biomaterials recapitulating more appropriately the complexity of body tissues when guiding their regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Stricher
- Université de Technologie de Compiègne, CNRS, Biomechanics and Bioengineering, Centre de Recherche Royallieu, CEDEX CS 60 319, 60 203, Compiègne, France
| | - Pascale Vigneron
- Université de Technologie de Compiègne, CNRS, Biomechanics and Bioengineering, Centre de Recherche Royallieu, CEDEX CS 60 319, 60 203, Compiègne, France
| | - Frederic Delbecq
- Université de Technologie de Compiègne, ESCOM, TIMR (Integrated Transformations of Renewable Matter), Centre de Recherche Royallieu, CEDEX CS 60 319, 60 203, Compiègne, France
| | - Claude-Olivier Sarde
- Université de Technologie de Compiègne, ESCOM, TIMR (Integrated Transformations of Renewable Matter), Centre de Recherche Royallieu, CEDEX CS 60 319, 60 203, Compiègne, France
| | - Christophe Egles
- Université de Technologie de Compiègne, CNRS, Biomechanics and Bioengineering, Centre de Recherche Royallieu, CEDEX CS 60 319, 60 203, Compiègne, France
- Univ Rouen Normandie, INSA Rouen Normandie, CNRS, Normandie Univ, PBS UMR 6270, 55 Rue Saint-Germain, 27 000, Évreux, France
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3
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Domozych DS, LoRicco JG. The extracellular matrix of green algae. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2023; 194:15-32. [PMID: 37399237 PMCID: PMC10762512 DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiad384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
Green algae display a wide range of extracellular matrix (ECM) components that include various types of cell walls (CW), scales, crystalline glycoprotein coverings, hydrophobic compounds, and complex gels or mucilage. Recently, new information derived from genomic/transcriptomic screening, advanced biochemical analyses, immunocytochemical studies, and ecophysiology has significantly enhanced and refined our understanding of the green algal ECM. In the later diverging charophyte group of green algae, the CW and other ECM components provide insight into the evolution of plants and the ways the ECM modulates during environmental stress. Chlorophytes produce diverse ECM components, many of which have been exploited for various uses in medicine, food, and biofuel production. This review highlights major advances in ECM studies of green algae.
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Affiliation(s)
- David S Domozych
- Department of Biology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA
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4
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Larson BT. Perspectives on Principles of Cellular Behavior from the Biophysics of Protists. Integr Comp Biol 2023; 63:1405-1421. [PMID: 37496203 PMCID: PMC10755178 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Cells are the fundamental unit of biological organization. Although it may be easy to think of them as little more than the simple building blocks of complex organisms such as animals, single cells are capable of behaviors of remarkable apparent sophistication. This is abundantly clear when considering the diversity of form and function among the microbial eukaryotes, the protists. How might we navigate this diversity in the search for general principles of cellular behavior? Here, we review cases in which the intensive study of protists from the perspective of cellular biophysics has driven insight into broad biological questions of morphogenesis, navigation and motility, and decision making. We argue that applying such approaches to questions of evolutionary cell biology presents rich, emerging opportunities. Integrating and expanding biophysical studies across protist diversity, exploiting the unique characteristics of each organism, will enrich our understanding of general underlying principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben T Larson
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
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5
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Vroomans RMA, Colizzi ES. Evolution of selfish multicellularity: collective organisation of individual spatio-temporal regulatory strategies. BMC Ecol Evol 2023; 23:35. [PMID: 37468829 PMCID: PMC10357660 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-023-02133-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The unicellular ancestors of modern-day multicellular organisms were remarkably complex. They had an extensive set of regulatory and signalling genes, an intricate life cycle and could change their behaviour in response to environmental changes. At the transition to multicellularity, some of these behaviours were co-opted to organise the development of the nascent multicellular organism. Here, we focus on the transition to multicellularity before the evolution of stable cell differentiation, to reveal how the emergence of clusters affects the evolution of cell behaviour. RESULTS We construct a computational model of a population of cells that can evolve the regulation of their behavioural state - either division or migration - and study both a unicellular and a multicellular context. Cells compete for reproduction and for resources to survive in a seasonally changing environment. We find that the evolution of multicellularity strongly determines the co-evolution of cell behaviour, by altering the competition dynamics between cells. When adhesion cannot evolve, cells compete for survival by rapidly migrating towards resources before dividing. When adhesion evolves, emergent collective migration alleviates the pressure on individual cells to reach resources. This allows individual cells to maximise their own replication. Migrating adhesive clusters display striking patterns of spatio-temporal cell state changes that visually resemble animal development. CONCLUSIONS Our model demonstrates how emergent selection pressures at the onset of multicellularity can drive the evolution of cellular behaviour to give rise to developmental patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renske M A Vroomans
- Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Origins Center, Groningen, Netherlands.
- Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Enrico Sandro Colizzi
- Origins Center, Groningen, Netherlands
- Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Mathematical Institute, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
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6
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von der Heyde B, von der Heyde EL, Hallmann A. Cell Type-Specific Promoters of Volvox carteri for Molecular Cell Biology Studies. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1389. [PMID: 37510294 PMCID: PMC10379329 DOI: 10.3390/genes14071389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The multicellular green alga Volvox carteri has emerged as a valuable model organism for investigating various aspects of multicellularity and cellular differentiation, photoreception and phototaxis, cell division, biogenesis of the extracellular matrix and morphogenetic movements. While a range of molecular tools and bioinformatics resources have been made available for exploring these topics, the establishment of cell type-specific promoters in V. carteri has not been achieved so far. Therefore, here, we conducted a thorough screening of transcriptome data from RNA sequencing analyses of V. carteri in order to identify potential cell type-specific promoters. Eventually, we chose two putative strong and cell type-specific promoters, with one exhibiting specific expression in reproductive cells (gonidia), the PCY1 promoter, and the other in somatic cells, the PFP promoter. After cloning both promoter regions, they were introduced upstream of a luciferase reporter gene. By using particle bombardment, the DNA constructs were stably integrated into the genome of V. carteri. The results of the expression analyses, which were conducted at both the transcript and protein levels, demonstrated that the two promoters drive cell type-specific expression in their respective target cell types. Transformants with considerably diverse expression levels of the chimeric genes were identifiable. In conclusion, the screening and analysis of transcriptome data from RNA sequencing allowed for the identification of potential cell type-specific promoters in V. carteri. Reporter gene constructs demonstrated the actual usability of two promoters. The investigated PCY1 and PFP promoters were proven to be potent molecular tools for genetic engineering in V. carteri.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin von der Heyde
- Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Eva Laura von der Heyde
- Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Armin Hallmann
- Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
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7
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Fung HF, Bergmann DC. Function follows form: How cell size is harnessed for developmental decisions. Eur J Cell Biol 2023; 102:151312. [PMID: 36989838 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2023.151312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell size has profound effects on biological function, influencing a wide range of processes, including biosynthetic capacity, metabolism, and nutrient uptake. As a result, size is typically maintained within a narrow, population-specific range through size control mechanisms, which are an active area of study. While the physiological consequences of cell size are relatively well-characterized, less is known about its developmental consequences, and specifically its effects on developmental transitions. In this review, we compare systems where cell size is linked to developmental transitions, paying particular attention to examples from plants. We conclude by proposing that size can offer a simple readout of complex inputs, enabling flexible decisions during plant development.
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8
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Cofre J, Saalfeld K. The first embryo, the origin of cancer and animal phylogeny. I. A presentation of the neoplastic process and its connection with cell fusion and germline formation. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 10:1067248. [PMID: 36684435 PMCID: PMC9846517 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1067248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The decisive role of Embryology in understanding the evolution of animal forms is founded and deeply rooted in the history of science. It is recognized that the emergence of multicellularity would not have been possible without the formation of the first embryo. We speculate that biophysical phenomena and the surrounding environment of the Ediacaran ocean were instrumental in co-opting a neoplastic functional module (NFM) within the nucleus of the first zygote. Thus, the neoplastic process, understood here as a biological phenomenon with profound embryologic implications, served as the evolutionary engine that favored the formation of the first embryo and cancerous diseases and allowed to coherently create and recreate body shapes in different animal groups during evolution. In this article, we provide a deep reflection on the Physics of the first embryogenesis and its contribution to the exaptation of additional NFM components, such as the extracellular matrix. Knowledge of NFM components, structure, dynamics, and origin advances our understanding of the numerous possibilities and different innovations that embryos have undergone to create animal forms via Neoplasia during evolutionary radiation. The developmental pathways of Neoplasia have their origins in ctenophores and were consolidated in mammals and other apical groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaime Cofre
- Laboratório de Embriologia Molecular e Câncer, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil,*Correspondence: Jaime Cofre,
| | - Kay Saalfeld
- Laboratório de Filogenia Animal, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
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9
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Minelli A. Two-way exchanges between animal and plant biology, with focus on evo-devo. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1057355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
By definition, biology is the science of all living beings. However, horizons restricted to either plants or animals have characterized the development of life sciences well beyond the emergence of unified perspectives applying to all forms of life, such as the cell theory or the theory of evolution. Separation between botanical and zoological traditions is not destined to go extinct easily, or shortly. Disciplinary isolation is emphasized by institutional contexts such as scientific societies and their congresses, specialist journals, disciplines recognized as teaching subjects and legitimate and fundable research fields. By shaping the personal agendas of individual scientists, this has a strong impact on the development of biology. In some fields, botanical and zoological contributions have long being effectively intertwined, but in many others plant and animal biology have failed to progress beyond a marginal dialogue. Characteristically, the so-called “general biology” and the philosophy of biology are still zoocentric (and often vertebrato- or even anthropocentric). In this article, I discuss legitimacy and fruitfulness of some old lexical and conceptual exchanges between the two traditions (cell, tissue, and embryo). Finally, moving to recent developments, I compare the contributions of plant vs. animal biology to the establishment of evolutionary developmental biology. We cannot expect that stronger integration between the different strands of life sciences will soon emerge by self-organization, but highlighting this persisting imbalance between plant and animal biology will arguably foster progress.
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10
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Mizuno K, Maree M, Nagamura T, Koga A, Hirayama S, Furukawa S, Tanaka K, Morikawa K. Novel multicellular prokaryote discovered next to an underground stream. eLife 2022; 11:71920. [PMID: 36217817 PMCID: PMC9555858 DOI: 10.7554/elife.71920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
A diversity of prokaryotes currently exhibit multicellularity with different generation mechanisms in a variety of contexts of ecology on Earth. In the present study, we report a new type of multicellular bacterium, HS-3, isolated from an underground stream. HS-3 self-organizes its filamentous cells into a layer-structured colony with the properties of a nematic liquid crystal. After maturation, the colony starts to form a semi-closed sphere accommodating clusters of coccobacillus daughter cells and selectively releases them upon contact with water. This is the first report that shows that a liquid-crystal status of cells can support the prokaryotic multicellular behavior. Importantly, the observed behavior of HS-3 suggests that the recurrent intermittent exposure of colonies to water flow in the cave might have been the ecological context that cultivated the evolutionary transition from unicellular to multicellular life. This is the new extant model that underpins theories regarding a role of ecological context in the emergence of multicellularity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kouhei Mizuno
- Division of International Affairs, Headquaters, National Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Creative Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan
| | - Mais Maree
- Doctoral Program in Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Toshihiko Nagamura
- Department of Creative Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan
| | - Akihiro Koga
- Department of Creative Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan
| | - Satoru Hirayama
- Department of Food Bioscience and Biotechnology, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Japan.,Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
| | - Soichi Furukawa
- Department of Food Bioscience and Biotechnology, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Japan
| | - Kenji Tanaka
- Department of Biological and Environmental Chemistry, School of Humanity-Oriented Science and Engineering, Kindai University, Iizuka, Japan
| | - Kazuya Morikawa
- Division of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
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11
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Cellular sentience as the primary source of biological order and evolution. Biosystems 2022; 218:104694. [PMID: 35595194 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
All life is cellular, starting some 4 billion years ago with the emergence of the first cells. In order to survive their early evolution in the face of an extremely challenging environment, the very first cells invented cellular sentience and cognition, allowing them to make relevant decisions to survive through creative adaptations in a continuously running evolutionary narrative. We propose that the success of cellular life has crucially depended on a biological version of Maxwell's demons which permits the extraction of relevant sensory information and energy from the cellular environment, allowing cells to sustain anti-entropic actions. These sensor-effector actions allowed for the creative construction of biological order in the form of diverse organic macromolecules, including crucial polymers such as DNA, RNA, and cytoskeleton. Ordered biopolymers store analogue (structures as templates) and digital (nucleotide sequences of DNA and RNA) information that functioned as a form memory to support the development of organisms and their evolution. Crucially, all cells are formed by the division of previous cells, and their plasma membranes are physically and informationally continuous across evolution since the beginning of cellular life. It is argued that life is supported through life-specific principles which support cellular sentience, distinguishing life from non-life. Biological order, together with cellular cognition and sentience, allow the creative evolution of all living organisms as the authentic authors of evolutionary novelty.
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12
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Incomplete abscission and cytoplasmic bridges in the evolution of eukaryotic multicellularity. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R385-R397. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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13
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Herrera-Ubaldo H. Illuminating the early embryonic cell divisions in Volvox carteri. THE PLANT CELL 2022; 34:1163-1164. [PMID: 35234926 PMCID: PMC8972319 DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koac030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
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14
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Gao Y, Pichugin Y, Gokhale CS, Traulsen A. Evolution of reproductive strategies in incipient multicellularity. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20210716. [PMID: 35232276 PMCID: PMC8889184 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Multicellular organisms potentially show a large degree of diversity in reproductive strategies, producing offspring with varying sizes and compositions compared to their unicellular ancestors. In reality, only a few of these reproductive strategies are prevalent. To understand why this could be the case, we develop a stage-structured population model to probe the evolutionary growth advantages of reproductive strategies in incipient multicellular organisms. The performance of reproductive strategies is evaluated by the growth rates of the corresponding populations. We identify the optimal reproductive strategy, leading to the largest growth rate for a population. Considering the effects of organism size and cellular interaction, we found that distinct reproductive strategies could perform uniquely or equally well under different conditions. If a single reproductive strategy is optimal, it is binary splitting, dividing into two parts. Our results show that organism size and cellular interaction can play crucial roles in shaping reproductive strategies in nascent multicellularity. Our model sheds light on understanding the mechanism driving the evolution of reproductive strategies in incipient multicellularity. Beyond multicellularity, our results imply that a crucial factor in the evolution of unicellular species’ reproductive strategies is organism size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanxiao Gao
- Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306 Plön, Germany
| | - Yuriy Pichugin
- Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306 Plön, Germany
| | - Chaitanya S Gokhale
- Research Group for Theoretical Models of Eco-evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306 Plön, Germany
| | - Arne Traulsen
- Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306 Plön, Germany
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15
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Kwantes M, Wichard T. The APAF1_C/WD40 repeat domain-encoding gene from the sea lettuce Ulva mutabilis sheds light on the evolution of NB-ARC domain-containing proteins in green plants. PLANTA 2022; 255:76. [PMID: 35235070 PMCID: PMC8891106 DOI: 10.1007/s00425-022-03851-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
We advance Ulva's genetic tractability and highlight its value as a model organism by characterizing its APAF1_C/WD40 domain-encoding gene, which belongs to a family that bears homology to R genes. The multicellular chlorophyte alga Ulva mutabilis (Ulvophyceae, Ulvales) is native to coastal ecosystems worldwide and attracts both high socio-economic and scientific interest. To further understand the genetic mechanisms that guide its biology, we present a protocol, based on adapter ligation-mediated PCR, for retrieving flanking sequences in U. mutabilis vector-insertion mutants. In the created insertional library, we identified a null mutant with an insertion in an apoptotic protease activating factor 1 helical domain (APAF1_C)/WD40 repeat domain-encoding gene. Protein domain architecture analysis combined with phylogenetic analysis revealed that this gene is a member of a subfamily that arose early in the evolution of green plants (Viridiplantae) through the acquisition of a gene that also encoded N-terminal nucleotide-binding adaptor shared by APAF-1, certain R-gene products and CED-4 (NB-ARC) and winged helix-like (WH-like) DNA-binding domains. Although phenotypic analysis revealed no mutant phenotype, gene expression levels in control plants correlated to the presence of bacterial symbionts, which U. mutabilis requires for proper morphogenesis. In addition, our analysis led to the discovery of a putative Ulva nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) Resistance protein (R-protein), and we discuss how the emergence of these R proteins in green plants may be linked to the evolution of the APAF1_C/WD40 protein subfamily.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiel Kwantes
- Institute for Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Lessingstr. 8, 07743, Jena, Germany.
| | - Thomas Wichard
- Institute for Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Lessingstr. 8, 07743, Jena, Germany.
- Jena School for Microbial Communication, 07743, Jena, Germany.
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16
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Liu M, West SA, Cooper GA. Relatedness and the evolution of mechanisms to divide labor in microorganisms. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:14475-14489. [PMID: 34765120 PMCID: PMC8571581 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Division of labor occurs when cooperating individuals specialize to perform different tasks. In bacteria and other microorganisms, some species divide labor by random specialization, where an individual's role is determined by random fluctuations in biochemical reactions within the cell. Other species divide labor by coordinating across individuals to determine which cells will perform which task, using mechanisms such as between-cell signaling. However, previous theory, examining the evolution of mechanisms to divide labor between reproductives and sterile helpers, has only considered clonal populations, where there is no potential for conflict between individuals. We used a mixture of analytical and simulation models to examine nonclonal populations and found that: (a) intermediate levels of coordination can be favored, between the extreme of no coordination (random) and full coordination; (b) as relatedness decreases, coordinated division of labor is less likely to be favored. Our results can help explain why coordinated division of labor is relatively rare in bacteria, where groups may frequently be nonclonal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Liu
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
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17
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Gao Y, Park HJ, Traulsen A, Pichugin Y. Evolution of irreversible somatic differentiation. eLife 2021; 10:66711. [PMID: 34643506 PMCID: PMC8514237 DOI: 10.7554/elife.66711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A key innovation emerging in complex animals is irreversible somatic differentiation: daughters of a vegetative cell perform a vegetative function as well, thus, forming a somatic lineage that can no longer be directly involved in reproduction. Primitive species use a different strategy: vegetative and reproductive tasks are separated in time rather than in space. Starting from such a strategy, how is it possible to evolve life forms which use some of their cells exclusively for vegetative functions? Here, we develop an evolutionary model of development of a simple multicellular organism and find that three components are necessary for the evolution of irreversible somatic differentiation: (i) costly cell differentiation, (ii) vegetative cells that significantly improve the organism’s performance even if present in small numbers, and (iii) large enough organism size. Our findings demonstrate how an egalitarian development typical for loose cell colonies can evolve into germ-soma differentiation dominating metazoans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanxiao Gao
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | - Hye Jin Park
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany.,Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Pohang, Republic of Korea.,Department of Physics, POSTECH, Pohang, Republic of Korea
| | - Arne Traulsen
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | - Yuriy Pichugin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
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18
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A topological look into the evolution of developmental programs. Biophys J 2021; 120:4193-4201. [PMID: 34480926 PMCID: PMC8516677 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.08.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Revised: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Rapid advance of experimental techniques provides an unprecedented in-depth view into complex developmental processes. Still, little is known on how the complexity of multicellular organisms evolved by elaborating developmental programs and inventing new cell types. A hurdle to understanding developmental evolution is the difficulty of even describing the intertwined network of spatiotemporal processes underlying the development of complex multicellular organisms. Nonetheless, an overview of developmental trajectories can be obtained from cell type lineage maps. Here, we propose that these lineage maps can also reveal how developmental programs evolve: the modes of evolving new cell types in an organism should be visible in its developmental trajectories and therefore in the geometry of its cell type lineage map. This idea is demonstrated using a parsimonious generative model of developmental programs, which allows us to reliably survey the universe of all possible programs and examine their topological features. We find that, contrary to belief, tree-like lineage maps are rare, and lineage maps of complex multicellular organisms are likely to be directed acyclic graphs in which multiple developmental routes can converge on the same cell type. Although cell type evolution prescribes what developmental programs come into existence, natural selection prunes those programs that produce low-functioning organisms. Our model indicates that additionally, lineage map topologies are correlated with such a functional property: the ability of organisms to regenerate.
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Abstract
The repeated evolution of multicellularity across the tree of life has profoundly affected the ecology and evolution of nearly all life on Earth. Many of these origins were in different groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes, or algae. Here, we review the evolution and genetics of multicellularity in several groups of green algae, which include the closest relatives of land plants. These include millimeter-scale, motile spheroids of up to 50,000 cells in the volvocine algae; decimeter-scale seaweeds in the genus Ulva (sea lettuce); and very plantlike, meter-scale freshwater algae in the genus Chara (stoneworts). We also describe algae in the genus Caulerpa, which are giant, multinucleate, morphologically complex single cells. In each case, we review the life cycle, phylogeny, and genetics of traits relevant to the evolution of multicellularity, and genetic and genomic resources available for the group in question. Finally, we suggest routes toward developing these groups as model organisms for the evolution of multicellularity. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genetics, Volume 55 is November 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Umen
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132, USA;
| | - Matthew D Herron
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA;
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20
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Grochau-Wright ZI, Ferris PJ, Tumberger J, Jiménez-Marin B, Olson BJSC, Michod RE. Characterization and Transformation of reg Cluster Genes in Volvox powersii Enable Investigation of Convergent Evolution of Cellular Differentiation in Volvox. Protist 2021; 172:125834. [PMID: 34695730 DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2021.125834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of germ-soma cellular differentiation represents a key step in the evolution of multicellular individuality. Volvox carteri and its relatives, the volvocine green algae, provide a model system for studying the evolution of cellular differentiation. In V. carteri, the regA gene controls somatic cell differentiation and is found in a group of paralogs called the reg cluster, along with rlsA, rlsB, and rlsC. However, the developmental program of V. carteri is derived compared to other volvocine algae. Here we examine Volvox powersii which possesses an ancestral developmental program and independent evolution of the Volvox body plan. We sequenced the reg cluster from V. powersii wild-type and a mutant with fewer cells and altered germ-soma ratio. We found that the mutant strain's rlsB gene has a deletion predicted to cause a truncated protein product. We developed a genetic transformation procedure to insert wild-type rlsB into the mutant strain. Transformation did not result in phenotypic rescue, suggesting the rlsB mutation is insufficient for generating the mutant phenotype. The transformation techniques and sequences described here provide essential tools to study V. powersii, a species well suited for studying the evolution of cellular differentiation and convergent evolution of Volvox morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - John Tumberger
- Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | | | | | - Richard E Michod
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
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21
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Desnitskiy AG. Volvox as a Model for Studying Cell Death and Senescence. Russ J Dev Biol 2021. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062360421030036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The spherical green alga Volvox consists of several hundred or thousand of somatic cells that undergo terminal differentiation, senescence and death, and a small number of gonidia (asexual reproductive cells) that give rise to the next generation. In the first part of this paper, the ontogenetic diversity of the genus Volvox is briefly considered, as well as the mechanisms of differentiation into the two types of cells mentioned above, which have been thoroughly studied during recent years in Volvox carteri. Then, a detailed critical analysis of the literature and some of my own data on senescence and cell death (mainly in V. carteri and, to a lesser extent, in V. aureus) was carried out, and it was noted that this aspect of Volvox developmental biology has not been sufficiently studied. Some perspectives of further research of the processes of cell death and senescence in representatives of the genus Volvox in a comparative aspect are indicated.
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22
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Paul S, Bravo Vázquez LA, Márquez Nafarrate M, Gutiérrez Reséndiz AI, Srivastava A, Sharma A. The regulatory activities of microRNAs in non-vascular plants: a mini review. PLANTA 2021; 254:57. [PMID: 34424349 DOI: 10.1007/s00425-021-03707-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
MicroRNA-mediated gene regulation in non-vascular plants is potentially involved in several unique biological functions, including biosynthesis of several highly valuable exclusive bioactive compounds, and those small RNAs could be manipulated for the overproduction of essential bioactive compounds in the future. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, small (20-24 nucleotides), non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression through the miRNA-mediated mechanisms of either translational inhibition or messenger RNA (mRNA) cleavage. In the past years, studies have mainly focused on elucidating the roles of miRNAs in vascular plants as compared to non-vascular plants. However, non-vascular plant miRNAs have been predicted to be involved in a wide variety of specific biological mechanisms; nevertheless, some of them have been demonstrated explicitly, thus showing that the research field of this plant group owns a noteworthy potential to develop novel investigations oriented towards the functional characterization of these miRNAs. Furthermore, the insights into the roles of miRNAs in non-vascular plants might be of great importance for designing the miRNA-based genetically modified plants for valuable secondary metabolites, active compounds, and biofuels in the future. Therefore, in this current review, we provide an overview of the potential roles of miRNAs in different groups of non-vascular plants such as algae and bryophytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sujay Paul
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Campus Queretaro, Av. Epigmenio Gonzalez, No. 500 Fracc. San Pablo, CP 76130, Querétaro, Mexico.
| | - Luis Alberto Bravo Vázquez
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Campus Queretaro, Av. Epigmenio Gonzalez, No. 500 Fracc. San Pablo, CP 76130, Querétaro, Mexico
| | - Marilyn Márquez Nafarrate
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Campus Monterrey, Av. Eugenio Garza Sada, No. 2501 Tecnologico, CP 64849, Monterrey, Mexico
| | - Ana Isabel Gutiérrez Reséndiz
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Campus Queretaro, Av. Epigmenio Gonzalez, No. 500 Fracc. San Pablo, CP 76130, Querétaro, Mexico
| | - Aashish Srivastava
- Section of Bioinformatics, Clinical Laboratory, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021, Bergen, Norway
- Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, 5021, Bergen, Norway
| | - Ashutosh Sharma
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Campus Queretaro, Av. Epigmenio Gonzalez, No. 500 Fracc. San Pablo, CP 76130, Querétaro, Mexico.
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23
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Balasubramanian RN, McCourt RM. Volvox barberi (Chlorophyceae) actively forms two-dimensional flocks in culture. JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY 2021; 57:967-974. [PMID: 33523505 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.13139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 01/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Volvox barberi is a multicellular green alga forming spherical colonies of 10,000-50,000 differentiated somatic and germ cells. We observed that in culture, these colonies actively self-organized in just a few minutes into "flocks" that contained as many as 100 colonies moving and rotating collectively for hours. The colonies in flocks formed two-dimensional, irregular, active crystals, that is, geometric lattices within which individual colonies rotated separately. These groupings sometimes disassembled back into individual colonies just as quickly, but in some cases, flocks persisted over several hours. Close inspection of flock formation in the presence of a tracer dye suggested that colony and flock rotations were producing vortices in the fluid medium over a range spanning multiple flock diameters, perhaps providing a physical mechanism for aggregation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard M McCourt
- Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103, USA
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24
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Mani S, Tlusty T. A comprehensive survey of developmental programs reveals a dearth of tree-like lineage graphs and ubiquitous regeneration. BMC Biol 2021; 19:111. [PMID: 34020630 PMCID: PMC8140435 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-01013-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Multicellular organisms are characterized by a wide diversity of forms and complexity despite a restricted set of key molecules and mechanisms at the base of organismal development. Development combines three basic processes—asymmetric cell division, signaling, and gene regulation—in a multitude of ways to create this overwhelming diversity of multicellular life forms. Here, we use a generative model to test the limits to which such processes can be combined to generate multiple differentiation paths during development, and attempt to chart the diversity of multicellular organisms generated. Results We sample millions of biologically feasible developmental schemes, allowing us to comment on the statistical properties of cell differentiation trajectories they produce. We characterize model-generated “organisms” using the graph topology of their cell type lineage maps. Remarkably, tree-type lineage differentiation maps are the rarest in our data. Additionally, a majority of the “organisms” generated by our model appear to be endowed with the ability to regenerate using pluripotent cells. Conclusions Our results indicate that, in contrast to common views, cell type lineage graphs are unlikely to be tree-like. Instead, they are more likely to be directed acyclic graphs, with multiple lineages converging on the same terminal cell type. Furthermore, the high incidence of pluripotent cells in model-generated organisms stands in line with the long-standing hypothesis that whole body regeneration is an epiphenomenon of development. We discuss experimentally testable predictions of our model and some ways to adapt the generative framework to test additional hypotheses about general features of development. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at (10.1186/s12915-021-01013-4).
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Affiliation(s)
- Somya Mani
- Center for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Ulsan, 44919, South Korea.
| | - Tsvi Tlusty
- Center for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Ulsan, 44919, South Korea. .,Department of Physics, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 44919, South Korea.
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25
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Haas PA, Goldstein RE. Morphoelasticity of large bending deformations of cell sheets during development. Phys Rev E 2021; 103:022411. [PMID: 33736073 PMCID: PMC7616142 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.103.022411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Deformations of cell sheets during morphogenesis are driven by developmental processes such as cell division and cell shape changes. In morphoelastic shell theories of development, these processes appear as variations of the intrinsic geometry of a thin elastic shell. However, morphogenesis often involves large bending deformations that are outside the formal range of validity of these shell theories. Here, by asymptotic expansion of three-dimensional incompressible morphoelasticity in the limit of a thin shell, we derive a shell theory for large intrinsic bending deformations and emphasize the resulting geometric material anisotropy and the elastic role of cell constriction. Taking the invagination of the green alga Volvox as a model developmental event, we show how results for this theory differ from those for a classical shell theory that is not formally valid for these large bending deformations and reveal how these geometric effects stabilize invagination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre A Haas
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
- Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Raymond E Goldstein
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
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26
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Mahdavi S, Razeghi J, Pazhouhandeh M, Movafeghi A, Kosari-Nasab M, Kianianmomeni A. Characterization of two predicted DASH-related proteins from the green alga Volvox carteri provides new insights into their light-mediated transcript regulation and DNA repair activity. ALGAL RES 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.algal.2020.102116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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27
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Mannan FO, Jarvela M, Leiderman K. Minimal model of the hydrodynamical coupling of flagella on a spherical body with application to Volvox. Phys Rev E 2020; 102:033114. [PMID: 33075899 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.102.033114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Flagella are hairlike appendages attached to microorganisms that allow the organisms to traverse their fluid environment. The algae Volvox are spherical swimmers with thousands of individual flagella on their surface, and their coordination is not fully understood. In this work, a previously developed minimal model of flagella synchronization is extended to the outer surface of a sphere submerged in a fluid. Each beating flagellum tip is modeled as a small sphere, elastically bound to a circular orbit just above the spherical surface and a regularized image system for Stokes flow outside of a sphere is used to enforce the no-slip condition. Biologically relevant distributions of rotors results in a rapidly developing and robust symplectic metachronal wave traveling from the anterior to the posterior of the spherical Volvox body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Forest O Mannan
- Mathematics & Computer Science Department, Western Colorado University, 1 Western Way, Gunnison, Colorado 81231, USA
| | - Miika Jarvela
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois St., Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
| | - Karin Leiderman
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois St., Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
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28
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Chaigne A, Labouesse C, White IJ, Agnew M, Hannezo E, Chalut KJ, Paluch EK. Abscission Couples Cell Division to Embryonic Stem Cell Fate. Dev Cell 2020; 55:195-208.e5. [PMID: 32979313 PMCID: PMC7594744 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2020.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Cell fate transitions are key to development and homeostasis. It is thus essential to understand the cellular mechanisms controlling fate transitions. Cell division has been implicated in fate decisions in many stem cell types, including neuronal and epithelial progenitors. In other stem cells, such as embryonic stem (ES) cells, the role of division remains unclear. Here, we show that exit from naive pluripotency in mouse ES cells generally occurs after a division. We further show that exit timing is strongly correlated between sister cells, which remain connected by cytoplasmic bridges long after division, and that bridge abscission progressively accelerates as cells exit naive pluripotency. Finally, interfering with abscission impairs naive pluripotency exit, and artificially inducing abscission accelerates it. Altogether, our data indicate that a switch in the division machinery leading to faster abscission regulates pluripotency exit. Our study identifies abscission as a key cellular process coupling cell division to fate transitions. Mouse embryonic stem cells exit naive pluripotency after mitosis Naive embryonic stem cells display slow abscission and remain connected by bridges Cells exiting naive pluripotency display faster abscission Accelerating abscission facilitates exit from naive pluripotency
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Affiliation(s)
- Agathe Chaigne
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
| | - Céline Labouesse
- Wellcome/MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK
| | - Ian J White
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Meghan Agnew
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Edouard Hannezo
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria
| | - Kevin J Chalut
- Wellcome/MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK
| | - Ewa K Paluch
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Wellcome/MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK; Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK.
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Abstract
The transition of life from single cells to more complex multicellular forms has occurred at least two dozen times among eukaryotes and is one of the major evolutionary transitions, but the early steps that enabled multicellular life to evolve and thrive remain poorly understood. Volvocine green algae are a taxonomic group that is uniquely suited to investigating the step-wise acquisition of multicellular organization. The multicellular volvocine species Volvox carteri exhibits many hallmarks of complex multicellularity including complete germ–soma division of labor, asymmetric cell divisions, coordinated tissue-level morphogenesis, and dimorphic sexes—none of which have obvious analogs in its closest unicellular relative, the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Here, I summarize some of the key questions and areas of study that are being addressed with Volvox carteri and how increasing genomic information and methodologies for volvocine algae are opening up the entire group as an integrated experimental system for exploring the evolution of multicellularity and more.
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Affiliation(s)
- James G Umen
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd, St. Louis, MO 63132 USA
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30
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Niklas KJ, Newman SA. The many roads to and from multicellularity. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2020; 71:3247-3253. [PMID: 31819969 PMCID: PMC7289717 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/07/2019] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The multiple origins of multicellularity had far-reaching consequences ranging from the appearance of phenotypically complex life-forms to their effects on Earth's aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, many important questions remain. For example, do all lineages and clades share an ancestral developmental predisposition for multicellularity emerging from genomic and biophysical motifs shared from a last common ancestor, or are the multiple origins of multicellularity truly independent evolutionary events? In this review, we highlight recent developments and pitfalls in understanding the evolution of multicellularity with an emphasis on plants (here defined broadly to include the polyphyletic algae), but also draw upon insights from animals and their holozoan relatives, fungi and amoebozoans. Based on our review, we conclude that the evolution of multicellular organisms requires three phases (origination by disparate cell-cell attachment modalities, followed by integration by lineage-specific physiological mechanisms, and autonomization by natural selection) that have been achieved differently in different lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl J Niklas
- Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Correspondence:
| | - Stuart A Newman
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA
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31
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von der Heyde EL, Hallmann A. Babo1, formerly Vop1 and Cop1/2, is no eyespot photoreceptor but a basal body protein illuminating cell division in Volvox carteri. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2020; 102:276-298. [PMID: 31778231 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.14623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
In photosynthetic organisms many processes are light dependent and sensing of light requires light-sensitive proteins. The supposed eyespot photoreceptor protein Babo1 (formerly Vop1) has previously been classified as an opsin due to the capacity for binding retinal. Here, we analyze Babo1 and provide evidence that it is no opsin. Due to the localization at the basal bodies, the former Vop1 and Cop1/2 proteins were renamed V.c. Babo1 and C.r. Babo1. We reveal a large family of more than 60 Babo1-related proteins from a wide range of species. The detailed subcellular localization of fluorescence-tagged Babo1 shows that it accumulates at the basal apparatus. More precisely, it is located predominantly at the basal bodies and to a lesser extent at the four strands of rootlet microtubules. We trace Babo1 during basal body separation and cell division. Dynamic structural rearrangements of Babo1 particularly occur right before the first cell division. In four-celled embryos Babo1 was exclusively found at the oldest basal bodies of the embryo and on the corresponding d-roots. The unequal distribution of Babo1 in four-celled embryos could be an integral part of a geometrical system in early embryogenesis, which establishes the anterior-posterior polarity and influences the spatial arrangement of all embryonic structures and characteristics. Due to its retinal-binding capacity, Babo1 could also be responsible for the unequal distribution of retinoids, knowing that such concentration gradients of retinoids can be essential for the correct patterning during embryogenesis of more complex organisms. Thus, our findings push the Babo1 research in another direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva L von der Heyde
- Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Armin Hallmann
- Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany
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32
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Abstract
Inspired by the patterns of multicellularity in choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals, we quantify the biophysical processes underlying the morphogenesis of rosette colonies in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta We find that rosettes reproducibly transition from an early stage of 2-dimensional (2D) growth to a later stage of 3D growth, despite the underlying variability of the cell lineages. Our perturbative experiments demonstrate the fundamental importance of a basally secreted extracellular matrix (ECM) for rosette morphogenesis and show that the interaction of the ECM with cells in the colony physically constrains the packing of proliferating cells and, thus, controls colony shape. Simulations of a biophysically inspired model that accounts for the size and shape of the individual cells, the fraction of ECM, and its stiffness relative to that of the cells suffices to explain our observations and yields a morphospace consistent with observations across a range of multicellular choanoflagellate colonies. Overall, our biophysical perspective on rosette development complements previous genetic perspectives and, thus, helps illuminate the interplay between cell biology and physics in regulating morphogenesis.
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33
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Desnitskiy AG. Advances in the Research of Sexual Reproduction in Colonial Volvocine Algae. Russ J Dev Biol 2019. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062360419050047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Bich L, Pradeu T, Moreau JF. Understanding Multicellularity: The Functional Organization of the Intercellular Space. Front Physiol 2019; 10:1170. [PMID: 31620013 PMCID: PMC6759637 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework to understand how multicellular systems realize functionally integrated physiological entities by organizing their intercellular space. From a perspective centered on physiology and integration, biological systems are often characterized as organized in such a way that they realize metabolic self-production and self-maintenance. The existence and activity of their components rely on the network they realize and on the continuous management of the exchange of matter and energy with their environment. One of the virtues of the organismic approach focused on organization is that it can provide an understanding of how biological systems are functionally integrated into coherent wholes. Organismic frameworks have been primarily developed by focusing on unicellular life. Multicellularity, however, presents additional challenges to our understanding of biological systems, related to how cells are capable to live together in higher-order entities, in such a way that some of their features and behaviors are constrained and controlled by the system they realize. Whereas most accounts of multicellularity focus on cell differentiation and increase in size as the main elements to understand biological systems at this level of organization, we argue that these factors are insufficient to provide an understanding of how cells are physically and functionally integrated in a coherent system. In this paper, we provide a new theoretical framework to understand multicellularity, capable to overcome these issues. Our thesis is that one of the fundamental theoretical principles to understand multicellularity, which is missing or underdeveloped in current accounts, is the functional organization of the intercellular space. In our view, the capability to be organized in space plays a central role in this context, as it enables (and allows to exploit all the implications of) cell differentiation and increase in size, and even specialized functions such as immunity. We argue that the extracellular matrix plays a crucial active role in this respect, as an evolutionary ancient and specific (non-cellular) control subsystem that contributes as a key actor to the functional specification of the multicellular space and to modulate cell fate and behavior. We also analyze how multicellular systems exert control upon internal movement and communication. Finally, we show how the organization of space is involved in some of the failures of multicellular organization, such as aging and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Bich
- Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, IAS-Research Centre for Life, Mind and Society, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Thomas Pradeu
- ImmunoConcept, CNRS UMR 5164, Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France
- CNRS UMR8590, Institut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, Pantheon-Sorbonne University, Paris, France
| | - Jean-François Moreau
- ImmunoConcept, CNRS UMR 5164, Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France
- CHU Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
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Newman SA. Inherent forms and the evolution of evolution. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2019; 332:331-338. [PMID: 31380606 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2019] [Revised: 07/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
John Bonner presented a provocative conjecture that the means by which organisms evolve has itself evolved. The elements of his postulated nonuniformitarianism in the essay under discussion-the emergence of sex, the enhanced selection pressures on larger multicellular forms-center on a presumed close mapping of genotypic to phenotypic change. A different view emerges from delving into earlier work of Bonner's in which he proposed the concept of "neutral phenotypes" and "neutral morphologies" allied to D'Arcy Thompson's analysis of physical determinants of form and studied the conditional elicitation of intrinsic organizational properties of cell aggregates in social amoebae. By comparing the shared and disparate mechanistic bases of morphogenesis and developmental outcomes in the embryos of metazoans (animals), closely related nonmetazoan holozoans, more distantly related dictyostelids, and very distantly related volvocine algae, I conclude, in agreement with Bonner's earlier proposals, that understanding the evolution of multicellular evolution requires knowledge of the inherent forms of diversifying lineages, and that the relevant causative factors extend beyond genes and adaptation to the physics of materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart A Newman
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York
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Hisanaga T, Yamaoka S, Kawashima T, Higo A, Nakajima K, Araki T, Kohchi T, Berger F. Building new insights in plant gametogenesis from an evolutionary perspective. NATURE PLANTS 2019; 5:663-669. [PMID: 31285561 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-019-0466-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Extant bryophytes are thought to preserve characteristics of ancestral land plants, with a life cycle dominated by the haploid gametophyte. The gametophyte produces gametes in specialized organs that differentiate after an extensive phase of vegetative development. During land plant evolution, these organs became extremely reduced. As a result, in flowers of angiosperms the haploid phase of the life cycle is reduced to few-celled gametophytes, namely the embryo sac (female) and pollen (male). Although many factors contributing to gametogenesis have been identified in flowering plants, the extreme reduction of the gametophytes has prevented a clear molecular dissection of key processes of gametogenesis. Recent studies in the model bryophyte Marchantia polymorpha have identified conserved transcription factors regulating the equivalent steps in the sexual reproduction of land plants. These include FEMALE GAMETOPHYTE MYB for female gametophyte development, BONOBO for gamete progenitor cell specification, DUO POLLEN1 for sperm differentiation and members of the RWP-RK domain family for female gamete formation. These studies demonstrate that M. polymorpha is a powerful model to untangle the core processes of gametogenesis in land plants. We anticipate that a deeper understanding of gametogenesis in bryophytes will circumscribe the origin of plant germ cells and define the differentiation programmes of sperm and eggs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuya Hisanaga
- Gregor Mendel Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Ikoma, Japan
| | - Shohei Yamaoka
- Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Tomokazu Kawashima
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Asuka Higo
- Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Keiji Nakajima
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Ikoma, Japan
| | - Takashi Araki
- Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Takayuki Kohchi
- Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Frédéric Berger
- Gregor Mendel Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria.
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Niklas KJ, Wayne R, Benítez M, Newman SA. Polarity, planes of cell division, and the evolution of plant multicellularity. PROTOPLASMA 2019; 256:585-599. [PMID: 30368592 DOI: 10.1007/s00709-018-1325-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Organisms as diverse as bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals manifest a property called "polarity." The literature shows that polarity emerges as a consequence of different mechanisms in different lineages. However, across all unicellular and multicellular organisms, polarity is evident when cells, organs, or organisms manifest one or more of the following: orientation, axiation, and asymmetry. Here, we review the relationships among these three features in the context of cell division and the evolution of multicellular polarity primarily in plants (defined here to include the algae). Data from unicellular and unbranched filamentous organisms (e.g., Chlamydomonas and Ulothrix) show that cell orientation and axiation are marked by cytoplasmic asymmetries. Branched filamentous organisms (e.g., Cladophora and moss protonema) require an orthogonal reorientation of axiation, or a localized cell asymmetry (e.g., "tip" growth in pollen tubes and fungal hyphae). The evolution of complex multicellular meristematic polarity required a third reorientation of axiation. These transitions show that polarity and the orientation of the future plane(s) of cell division are dyadic dynamical patterning modules that were critical for multicellular eukaryotic organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl J Niklas
- Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | - Randy Wayne
- Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Mariana Benítez
- Instituto de Ecología Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
- C3, Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Stuart A Newman
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, 10595, USA
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New Selectable Markers for Volvox carteri Transformation. Protist 2018; 170:52-63. [PMID: 30576875 DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2018.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 10/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Volvox carteri is an excellent model for investigating the evolution of multicellularity and cell differentiation, and the rate of future progress with this system will depend on improved molecular genetic tools. Several selectable markers for nuclear transformation of V. carteri have been developed, including the nitrate reductase (nitA) gene, but it would be useful to have additional markers to multiplex transgenes in this species. To further facilitate molecular genetic analyses of V. carteri, we developed two new selectable markers that provide rapid, easily selected, and stable resistance to the antibiotics hygromycin and blasticidin. We generated constructs with Volvox-specific regulatory sequences and codon-optimized hygromycin (VcHyg) and blasticidin (VcBlast) resistance genes from Coccidioides posadasii and Bacillus cereus, respectively. With these constructs, transformants were obtained via biolistic bombardment at rates of 0.5-13 per million target cells bombarded. Antibiotic-resistant survivors were readily isolated 7days post bombardment. VcHyg and VcBlast transgenes and transcripts were detected in transformants. Co-transformation rates using the VcHyg or VcBlast markers with unselected genes were comparable to those obtained with nitA. These results indicate that the pVcHyg and pVcBlast plasmids are highly efficient and convenient for transforming and co-transforming a broad range of V. carteri strains.
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Haas PA, Goldstein RE. Embryonic Inversion in Volvox carteri: The Flipping and Peeling of Elastic Lips. Phys Rev E 2018; 98:052415. [PMID: 30519671 PMCID: PMC6276994 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.98.052415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The embryos of the green alga Volvox carteri are spherical sheets of cells that turn themselves inside out at the close of their development through a programme of cell shape changes. This process of inversion is a model for morphogenetic cell sheet deformations; it starts with four lips opening up at the anterior pole of the cell sheet, flipping over and peeling back to invert the embryo. Experimental studies have revealed that inversion is arrested if some of these cell shape changes are inhibited, but the mechanical basis for these observations has remained unclear. Here, we analyse the mechanics of this inversion by deriving an averaged elastic theory for these lips and we interpret the experimental observations in terms of the mechanics and evolution of inversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre A. Haas
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
| | - Raymond E. Goldstein
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
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Haas PA, Höhn SSMH, Honerkamp-Smith AR, Kirkegaard JB, Goldstein RE. The noisy basis of morphogenesis: Mechanisms and mechanics of cell sheet folding inferred from developmental variability. PLoS Biol 2018; 16:e2005536. [PMID: 30001335 PMCID: PMC6063725 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2005536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Revised: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Variability is emerging as an integral part of development. It is therefore imperative to ask how to access the information contained in this variability. Yet most studies of development average their observations and, discarding the variability, seek to derive models, biological or physical, that explain these average observations. Here, we analyse this variability in a study of cell sheet folding in the green alga Volvox, whose spherical embryos turn themselves inside out in a process sharing invagination, expansion, involution, and peeling of a cell sheet with animal models of morphogenesis. We generalise our earlier, qualitative model of the initial stages of inversion by combining ideas from morphoelasticity and shell theory. Together with three-dimensional visualisations of inversion using light sheet microscopy, this yields a detailed, quantitative model of the entire inversion process. With this model, we show how the variability of inversion reveals that two separate, temporally uncoupled processes drive the initial invagination and subsequent expansion of the cell sheet. This implies a prototypical transition towards higher developmental complexity in the volvocine algae and provides proof of principle of analysing morphogenesis based on its variability. Biological noise is unavoidable in—and even necessary for—development. Here, we ask whether this variability can teach us something about the process that underlies it. We show how to access the information hidden in the variability in an analysis of the variability of cell sheet folding in the green alga Volvox globator. Through a combination of light sheet microscopy and mathematical modelling, we show how the inversion process, by which the spherical embryos of Volvox turn themselves inside out, results from two separate mechanisms of bending and stretching (expansion and subsequent contraction). Our analysis therefore uncovers a prototypical transition of developmental complexity in Volvox and the related volvocine algae, from a morphogenetic process driven by a single mechanism to one driven by two separate mechanisms. This complements the similarly prototypical transition from one cell type to two cell types that has made the volvocine algae a model system for the evolution of multicellularity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre A. Haas
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Stephanie S. M. H. Höhn
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Aurelia R. Honerkamp-Smith
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Physics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Julius B. Kirkegaard
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Raymond E. Goldstein
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Rivera-Yoshida N, Arias Del Angel JA, Benítez M. Microbial multicellular development: mechanical forces in action. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2018; 51:37-45. [PMID: 29885639 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2018.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Multicellular development occurs in diverse microbial lineages and involves the complex interaction among biochemical, physical and ecological factors. We focus on the mechanical forces that appear to be relevant for the scale and material qualities of individual cells and small cellular conglomerates. We review the effects of such forces on the development of some paradigmatic microorganisms, as well as their overall consequences in multicellular structures. Microbes exhibiting multicellular development have been considered models for the evolutionary transition to multicellularity. Therefore, we discuss how comparative, integrative and dynamic approaches to the mechanical effects involved in microbial development can provide valuable insights into some of the principles behind the evolutionary transition to multicellularity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natsuko Rivera-Yoshida
- Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad (LANCIS), Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico; Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico; Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Juan A Arias Del Angel
- Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad (LANCIS), Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico; Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico; Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Mariana Benítez
- Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad (LANCIS), Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico; Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
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Desnitskiy AG. Comparative Analysis of Embryonic Inversion in Algae of the Genus Volvox (Volvocales, Chlorophyta). Russ J Dev Biol 2018. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062360418030025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Geng S, Miyagi A, Umen JG. Evolutionary divergence of the sex-determining gene MID uncoupled from the transition to anisogamy in volvocine algae. Development 2018; 145:dev.162537. [PMID: 29549112 DOI: 10.1242/dev.162537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Volvocine algae constitute a unique comparative model for investigating the evolution of oogamy from isogamous mating types. The sex- or mating type-determining gene MID encodes a conserved RWP-RK transcription factor found in either the MT- or male mating locus of dioecious volvocine species. We previously found that MID from the isogamous species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CrMID) could not induce ectopic spermatogenesis when expressed heterologously in Volvox carteri females, suggesting coevolution of Mid function with gamete dimorphism. Here we found that ectopic expression of MID from the anisogamous species Pleodorina starrii (PsMID) could efficiently induce spermatogenesis when expressed in V. carteri females and, unexpectedly, that GpMID from the isogamous species Gonium pectorale was also able to induce V. carteri spermatogenesis. Neither VcMID nor GpMID could complement a C. reinhardtii mid mutant, at least partly owing to instability of heterologous Mid proteins. Our data show that Mid divergence was not a major contributor to the transition between isogamy and anisogamy/oogamy in volvocine algae, and instead implicate changes in cis-regulatory interactions and/or trans-acting factors of the Mid network in the evolution of sexual dimorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sa Geng
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd., St. Louis, MO 63132, USA
| | - Ayano Miyagi
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd., St. Louis, MO 63132, USA
| | - James G Umen
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd., St. Louis, MO 63132, USA
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Cell-Type Transcriptomes of the Multicellular Green Alga Volvox carteri Yield Insights into the Evolutionary Origins of Germ and Somatic Differentiation Programs. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2018; 8:531-550. [PMID: 29208647 PMCID: PMC5919742 DOI: 10.1534/g3.117.300253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Germ-soma differentiation is a hallmark of complex multicellular organisms, yet its origins are not well understood. Volvox carteri is a simple multicellular green alga that has recently evolved a simple germ-soma dichotomy with only two cell-types: large germ cells called gonidia and small terminally differentiated somatic cells. Here, we provide a comprehensive characterization of the gonidial and somatic transcriptomes of V. carteri to uncover fundamental differences between the molecular and metabolic programming of these cell-types. We found extensive transcriptome differentiation between cell-types, with somatic cells expressing a more specialized program overrepresented in younger, lineage-specific genes, and gonidial cells expressing a more generalist program overrepresented in more ancient genes that shared striking overlap with stem cell-specific genes from animals and land plants. Directed analyses of different pathways revealed a strong dichotomy between cell-types with gonidial cells expressing growth-related genes and somatic cells expressing an altruistic metabolic program geared toward the assembly of flagella, which support organismal motility, and the conversion of storage carbon to sugars, which act as donors for production of extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoproteins whose secretion enables massive organismal expansion. V. carteri orthologs of diurnally controlled genes from C. reinhardtii, a single-celled relative, were analyzed for cell-type distribution and found to be strongly partitioned, with expression of dark-phase genes overrepresented in somatic cells and light-phase genes overrepresented in gonidial cells- a result that is consistent with cell-type programs in V. carteri arising by cooption of temporal regulons in a unicellular ancestor. Together, our findings reveal fundamental molecular, metabolic, and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie the origins of germ-soma differentiation in V. carteri and provide a template for understanding the acquisition of germ-soma differentiation in other multicellular lineages.
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Polysaccharide associated protein (PSAP) from the green microalga Botryococcus braunii is a unique extracellular matrix hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein. ALGAL RES 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.algal.2017.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Klein B, Wibberg D, Hallmann A. Whole transcriptome RNA-Seq analysis reveals extensive cell type-specific compartmentalization in Volvox carteri. BMC Biol 2017; 15:111. [PMID: 29179763 PMCID: PMC5704591 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0450-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2017] [Accepted: 10/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background One of evolution’s most important achievements is the development and radiation of multicellular organisms with different types of cells. Complex multicellularity has evolved several times in eukaryotes; yet, in most lineages, an investigation of its molecular background is considerably challenging since the transition occurred too far in the past and, in addition, these lineages evolved a large number of cell types. However, for volvocine green algae, such as Volvox carteri, multicellularity is a relatively recent innovation. Furthermore, V. carteri shows a complete division of labor between only two cell types – small, flagellated somatic cells and large, immotile reproductive cells. Thus, V. carteri provides a unique opportunity to study multicellularity and cellular differentiation at the molecular level. Results This study provides a whole transcriptome RNA-Seq analysis of separated cell types of the multicellular green alga V. carteri f. nagariensis to reveal cell type-specific components and functions. To this end, 246 million quality filtered reads were mapped to the genome and valid expression data were obtained for 93% of the 14,247 gene loci. In the subsequent search for protein domains with assigned molecular function, we identified 9435 previously classified domains in 44% of all gene loci. Furthermore, in 43% of all gene loci we identified 15,254 domains that are involved in biological processes. All identified domains were investigated regarding cell type-specific expression. Moreover, we provide further insight into the expression pattern of previously described gene families (e.g., pherophorin, extracellular matrix metalloprotease, and VARL families). Our results demonstrate an extensive compartmentalization of the transcriptome between cell types: More than half of all genes show a clear difference in expression between somatic and reproductive cells. Conclusions This study constitutes the first transcriptome-wide RNA-Seq analysis of separated cell types of V. carteri focusing on gene expression. The high degree of differential expression indicates a strong differentiation of cell types despite the fact that V. carteri diverged relatively recently from its unicellular relatives. Our expression dataset and the bioinformatic analyses provide the opportunity to further investigate and understand the mechanisms of cell type-specific expression and its transcriptional regulation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0450-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Klein
- Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Daniel Wibberg
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Armin Hallmann
- Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany.
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Brodie J, Chan CX, De Clerck O, Cock JM, Coelho SM, Gachon C, Grossman AR, Mock T, Raven JA, Smith AG, Yoon HS, Bhattacharya D. The Algal Revolution. TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2017; 22:726-738. [PMID: 28610890 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2017.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2017] [Revised: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 05/16/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Algae are (mostly) photosynthetic eukaryotes that occupy multiple branches of the tree of life, and are vital for planet function and health. In this review, we highlight a transformative period in studies of the evolution and functioning of this extraordinary group of organisms and their potential for novel applications, wrought by high-throughput 'omic' and reverse genetic methods. We cover the origin and diversification of algal groups, explore advances in understanding the link between phenotype and genotype, consider algal sex determination, and review progress in understanding the roots of algal multicellularity. Experimental evolution studies to determine how algae evolve in changing environments are highlighted, as is their potential as production platforms for compounds of commercial interest, such as biofuel precursors, nutraceuticals, or therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliet Brodie
- Natural History Museum, Department of Life Sciences, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Cheong Xin Chan
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Olivier De Clerck
- Research Group Phycology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - J Mark Cock
- CNRS, Sorbonne Université, UPMC University Paris 06, Algal Genetics Group, UMR 8227, Integrative Biology of Marine Models, Station Biologique de Roscoff, CS 90074, Roscoff F-29688, France
| | - Susana M Coelho
- CNRS, Sorbonne Université, UPMC University Paris 06, Algal Genetics Group, UMR 8227, Integrative Biology of Marine Models, Station Biologique de Roscoff, CS 90074, Roscoff F-29688, France
| | - Claire Gachon
- Scottish Association for Marine Science, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, PA37 1QA, UK
| | - Arthur R Grossman
- Department of Plant Biology, The Carnegie Institution, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Thomas Mock
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - John A Raven
- Permanent address: Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee at the James Hutton Institute, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK; School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Alison G Smith
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Hwan Su Yoon
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Debashish Bhattacharya
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
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Russell JJ, Theriot JA, Sood P, Marshall WF, Landweber LF, Fritz-Laylin L, Polka JK, Oliferenko S, Gerbich T, Gladfelter A, Umen J, Bezanilla M, Lancaster MA, He S, Gibson MC, Goldstein B, Tanaka EM, Hu CK, Brunet A. Non-model model organisms. BMC Biol 2017; 15:55. [PMID: 28662661 PMCID: PMC5492503 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0391-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Model organisms are widely used in research as accessible and convenient systems to study a particular area or question in biology. Traditionally only a handful of organisms have been widely studied, but modern research tools are enabling researchers to extend the set of model organisms to include less-studied and more unusual systems. This Forum highlights a range of 'non-model model organisms' as emerging systems for tackling questions across the whole spectrum of biology (and beyond), the opportunities and challenges, and the outlook for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- James J Russell
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Julie A Theriot
- Departments of Biochemistry and of Microbiology & Immunology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Pranidhi Sood
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, 600 16th St, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Wallace F Marshall
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, 600 16th St, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
| | - Laura F Landweber
- Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics and Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | | | - Jessica K Polka
- Visiting Scholar, Whitehead Institute, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Snezhana Oliferenko
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London, NW1 1AT, UK
- Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Therese Gerbich
- 516 Fordham Hall, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA
| | - Amy Gladfelter
- 516 Fordham Hall, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA
| | - James Umen
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63132, USA
| | | | - Madeline A Lancaster
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, CB2 0QH, Cambridge, UK
| | - Shuonan He
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Matthew C Gibson
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA
| | - Bob Goldstein
- Biology Department, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Elly M Tanaka
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus Vienna Biocenter 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Chi-Kuo Hu
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Anne Brunet
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
- Glenn Laboratories for the Biology of Aging at Stanford, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
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Chitwood DH, Irish VF. A renaissance in plant development. Dev Biol 2016; 419:4-6. [PMID: 27637462 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Vivian F Irish
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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