1
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Monk T, Dennler N, Ralph N, Rastogi S, Afshar S, Urbizagastegui P, Jarvis R, van Schaik A, Adamatzky A. Electrical Signaling Beyond Neurons. Neural Comput 2024; 36:1939-2029. [PMID: 39141803 DOI: 10.1162/neco_a_01696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 08/16/2024]
Abstract
Neural action potentials (APs) are difficult to interpret as signal encoders and/or computational primitives. Their relationships with stimuli and behaviors are obscured by the staggering complexity of nervous systems themselves. We can reduce this complexity by observing that "simpler" neuron-less organisms also transduce stimuli into transient electrical pulses that affect their behaviors. Without a complicated nervous system, APs are often easier to understand as signal/response mechanisms. We review examples of nonneural stimulus transductions in domains of life largely neglected by theoretical neuroscience: bacteria, protozoans, plants, fungi, and neuron-less animals. We report properties of those electrical signals-for example, amplitudes, durations, ionic bases, refractory periods, and particularly their ecological purposes. We compare those properties with those of neurons to infer the tasks and selection pressures that neurons satisfy. Throughout the tree of life, nonneural stimulus transductions time behavioral responses to environmental changes. Nonneural organisms represent the presence or absence of a stimulus with the presence or absence of an electrical signal. Their transductions usually exhibit high sensitivity and specificity to a stimulus, but are often slow compared to neurons. Neurons appear to be sacrificing the specificity of their stimulus transductions for sensitivity and speed. We interpret cellular stimulus transductions as a cell's assertion that it detected something important at that moment in time. In particular, we consider neural APs as fast but noisy detection assertions. We infer that a principal goal of nervous systems is to detect extremely weak signals from noisy sensory spikes under enormous time pressure. We discuss neural computation proposals that address this goal by casting neurons as devices that implement online, analog, probabilistic computations with their membrane potentials. Those proposals imply a measurable relationship between afferent neural spiking statistics and efferent neural membrane electrophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Travis Monk
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
| | - Nik Dennler
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
- Biocomputation Group, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, U.K.
| | - Nicholas Ralph
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
| | - Shavika Rastogi
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
- Biocomputation Group, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, U.K.
| | - Saeed Afshar
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
| | - Pablo Urbizagastegui
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
| | - Russell Jarvis
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
| | - André van Schaik
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia
| | - Andrew Adamatzky
- Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, U.K.
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2
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Hsiao J, Deng LC, Moroz LL, Chalasani SH, Edsinger E. Ocean to Tree: Leveraging Single-Molecule RNA-Seq to Repair Genome Gene Models and Improve Phylogenomic Analysis of Gene and Species Evolution. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2757:461-490. [PMID: 38668979 PMCID: PMC11112408 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3642-8_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Understanding gene evolution across genomes and organisms, including ctenophores, can provide unexpected biological insights. It enables powerful integrative approaches that leverage sequence diversity to advance biomedicine. Sequencing and bioinformatic tools can be inexpensive and user-friendly, but numerous options and coding can intimidate new users. Distinct challenges exist in working with data from diverse species but may go unrecognized by researchers accustomed to gold-standard genomes. Here, we provide a high-level workflow and detailed pipeline to enable animal collection, single-molecule sequencing, and phylogenomic analysis of gene and species evolution. As a demonstration, we focus on (1) PacBio RNA-seq of the genome-sequenced ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, (2) diversity and evolution of the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo in genetic models and basal-branching animals, and (3) associated challenges and solutions to working with diverse species and genomes, including gene model updating and repair using single-molecule RNA-seq. We provide a Python Jupyter Notebook version of our pipeline (GitHub Repository: Ctenophore-Ocean-To-Tree-2023 https://github.com/000generic/Ctenophore-Ocean-To-Tree-2023 ) that can be run for free in the Google Colab cloud to replicate our findings or modified for specific or greater use. Our protocol enables users to design new sequencing projects in ctenophores, marine invertebrates, or other novel organisms. It provides a simple, comprehensive platform that can ease new user entry into running their evolutionary sequence analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Hsiao
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Study, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Lola Chenxi Deng
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Study, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Leonid L. Moroz
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080
- Department of Neuroscience and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL32611
| | - Sreekanth H. Chalasani
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Study, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Eric Edsinger
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Study, La Jolla, CA 92037
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3
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Lewis CTA, Ochala J. Myosin Heavy Chain as a Novel Key Modulator of Striated Muscle Resting State. Physiology (Bethesda) 2023; 38:0. [PMID: 36067133 DOI: 10.1152/physiol.00018.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
After years of intense research using structural, biological, and biochemical experimental procedures, it is clear that myosin molecules are essential for striated muscle contraction. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg of their function. Interestingly, it has been shown recently that these molecules (especially myosin heavy chains) are also crucial for cardiac and skeletal muscle resting state. In the present review, we first overview myosin heavy chain biochemical states and how they influence the consumption of ATP. We then detail how neighboring partner proteins including myosin light chains and myosin binding protein C intervene in such processes, modulating the ATP demand in health and disease. Finally, we present current experimental drugs targeting myosin ATP consumption and how they can treat muscle diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Julien Ochala
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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4
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Klug C, Kerr J, Lee MSY, Cloutier R. A late-surviving stem-ctenophore from the Late Devonian of Miguasha (Canada). Sci Rep 2021; 11:19039. [PMID: 34561497 PMCID: PMC8463547 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98362-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Like other soft-bodied organisms, ctenophores (comb jellies) produce fossils only under exceptional taphonomic conditions. Here, we present the first record of a Late Devonian ctenophore from the Escuminac Formation from Miguasha in eastern Canada. Based on the 18-fold symmetry of this disc-shaped fossil, we assign it to the total-group Ctenophora. Our phylogenetic analyses suggest that the new taxon Daihuoides jakobvintheri gen. et sp. nov. falls near Cambrian stem ctenophores such as 'dinomischids' and 'scleroctenophorans'. Accordingly, Daihuoides is a Lazarus-taxon, which post-dates its older relatives by over 140 million years, and overlaps temporally with modern ctenophores, whose oldest representatives are known from the Early Devonian. Our analyses also indicate that the fossil record of ctenophores does not provide strong evidence for or against the phylogenomic hypothesis that ctenophores are sister to all other metazoans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Klug
- Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Zürich, Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Johanne Kerr
- Parc national de Miguasha, 231 Route de Miguasha Ouest, Nouvelle, QC, G0C 2E0, Canada
| | - Michael S Y Lee
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Earth Sciences Section, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Richard Cloutier
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 300 allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, QC, G5L 3A1, Canada.
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5
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Phylogenomic analyses recover a clade of large-bodied decapodiform cephalopods. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2020; 156:107038. [PMID: 33285289 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Revised: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Phylogenetic relationships among the squids and cuttlefishes (Cephalopoda:Decapodiformes) have resisted clarification for decades, despite multiple analyses of morphological, molecular and combined data sets. More recently, analyses of complete mitochondrial genomes and hundreds of nuclear loci have yielded similarly ambiguous results. In this study, we re-evaluate hypotheses of decapodiform relationships by increasing taxonomic breadth and utilizing higher-quality genome and transcriptome data for several taxa. We also employ analytical approaches to (1) identify contamination in transcriptome data, (2) better assess model adequacy, and (3) account for potential biases. Using this larger data set, we consistently recover a clade comprising Myopsida (closed-eye squid), Sepiida (cuttlefishes), and Oegopsida (open-eye squid) that is sister to a Sepiolida (bobtail and bottletail squid) clade. Idiosepiida (pygmy squid) is consistently recovered as the sister group to all sampled decapodiform lineages. Further, a weighted Shimodaira-Hasegawa test applied to one of our larger data matrices rejects all alternatives to these ordinal-level relationships. At present, available nuclear genome-scale data support nested clades of relatively large-bodied decapodiform cephalopods to the exclusion of pygmy squids, but improved taxon sampling and additional genomic data will be needed to test these novel hypotheses rigorously.
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6
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Altenhoff AM, Levy J, Zarowiecki M, Tomiczek B, Warwick Vesztrocy A, Dalquen DA, Müller S, Telford MJ, Glover NM, Dylus D, Dessimoz C. OMA standalone: orthology inference among public and custom genomes and transcriptomes. Genome Res 2019; 29:1152-1163. [PMID: 31235654 PMCID: PMC6633268 DOI: 10.1101/gr.243212.118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 05/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Genomes and transcriptomes are now typically sequenced by individual laboratories but analyzing them often remains challenging. One essential step in many analyses lies in identifying orthologs—corresponding genes across multiple species—but this is far from trivial. The Orthologous MAtrix (OMA) database is a leading resource for identifying orthologs among publicly available, complete genomes. Here, we describe the OMA pipeline available as a standalone program for Linux and Mac. When run on a cluster, it has native support for the LSF, SGE, PBS Pro, and Slurm job schedulers and can scale up to thousands of parallel processes. Another key feature of OMA standalone is that users can combine their own data with existing public data by exporting genomes and precomputed alignments from the OMA database, which currently contains over 2100 complete genomes. We compare OMA standalone to other methods in the context of phylogenetic tree inference, by inferring a phylogeny of Lophotrochozoa, a challenging clade within the protostomes. We also discuss other potential applications of OMA standalone, including identifying gene families having undergone duplications/losses in specific clades, and identifying potential drug targets in nonmodel organisms. OMA standalone is available under the permissive open source Mozilla Public License Version 2.0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian M Altenhoff
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jeremy Levy
- Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX), University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.,Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Magdalena Zarowiecki
- Genomics England, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Bartłomiej Tomiczek
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.,Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, 80-307 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Alex Warwick Vesztrocy
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel A Dalquen
- Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Steven Müller
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Maximilian J Telford
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Natasha M Glover
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - David Dylus
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christophe Dessimoz
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.,Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Department of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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7
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Zhao Y, Vinther J, Parry LA, Wei F, Green E, Pisani D, Hou X, Edgecombe GD, Cong P. Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan. Curr Biol 2019; 29:1112-1125.e2. [PMID: 30905603 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Revised: 11/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The origin of ctenophores (comb jellies) is obscured by their controversial phylogenetic position, with recent phylogenomic analyses resolving either sponges or ctenophores as the sister group of all other animals. Fossil taxa can provide morphological evidence that may elucidate the origins of derived characters and shared ancestries among divergent taxa, providing a means to "break" long branches in phylogenetic trees. Here we describe new fossil material from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, Yunnan Province, China, including the putative cnidarian Xianguangia, the new taxon Daihua sanqiong gen et sp. nov., and Dinomischus venustus, informally referred to as "dinomischids" here. "Dinomischids" possess a basal calyx encircled by 18 tentacles that surround the mouth. The tentacles carry pinnules, each with a row of stiff filamentous structures interpreted as very large compound cilia of a size otherwise only known in ctenophores. Together with the Cambrian tulip animal Siphusauctum and the armored Cambrian scleroctenophores, they exhibit anatomies that trace ctenophores to a sessile, polypoid stem lineage. This body plan resembles the polypoid, tentaculate morphology of cnidarians, including a blind gastric cavity partitioned by mesenteries. We propose that comb rows are derived from tentacles with paired sets of pinnules that each bear a row of compound cilia. The scleroctenophores exhibit paired comb rows, also observed in Siphusauctum, in addition to an organic skeleton, shared as well by Dinomischus, Daihua, and Xianguangia. We formulate a hypothesis in which ctenophores evolved from sessile, polypoid suspension feeders, sharing similarities with cnidarians that suggest either a close relationship between these two phyla, a striking pattern of early convergent evolution, or an ancestral condition for either metazoans or eumetazoans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Zhao
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China; MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Jakob Vinther
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK; School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences, Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Luke A Parry
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK; Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Palaeobiology Section, Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON M5S 2C6, Canada; Yale Institute for Biosphere Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Fan Wei
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China; MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Emily Green
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Davide Pisani
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK; School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences, Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Xianguang Hou
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China; MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Gregory D Edgecombe
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China; Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Peiyun Cong
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China; MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China; Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
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8
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Hall C, Rodriguez M, Garcia J, Posfai D, DuMez R, Wictor E, Quintero OA, Hill MS, Rivera AS, Hill AL. Secreted frizzled related protein is a target of PaxB and plays a role in aquiferous system development in the freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0212005. [PMID: 30794564 PMCID: PMC6386478 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling, as well as the Pax/Six gene network, are involved in patterning the freshwater sponge aquiferous system. Using computational approaches to identify transcription factor binding motifs in a freshwater sponge genome, we located putative PaxB binding sites near a Secreted Frizzled Related Protein (SFRP) gene in Ephydatia muelleri. EmSFRP is expressed throughout development, but with highest levels in juvenile sponges. In situ hybridization and antibody staining show EmSFRP expression throughout the pinacoderm and choanoderm in a subpopulation of amoeboid cells that may be differentiating archeocytes. Knockdown of EmSFRP leads to ectopic oscula formation during development, suggesting that EmSFRP acts as an antagonist of Wnt signaling in E. muelleri. Our findings support a hypothesis that regulation of the Wnt pathway by the Pax/Six network as well as the role of Wnt signaling in body plan morphogenesis was established before sponges diverged from the rest of the metazoans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chelsea Hall
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Melanie Rodriguez
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Josephine Garcia
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Dora Posfai
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Rachel DuMez
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Erik Wictor
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, United States of America
| | - Omar A. Quintero
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Malcolm S. Hill
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, United States of America
| | - Ajna S. Rivera
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, United States of America
| | - April L. Hill
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, United States of America
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9
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Renard E, Leys SP, Wörheide G, Borchiellini C. Understanding Animal Evolution: The Added Value of Sponge Transcriptomics and Genomics: The disconnect between gene content and body plan evolution. Bioessays 2018; 40:e1700237. [PMID: 30070368 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Revised: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Sponges are important but often-neglected organisms. The absence of classical animal traits (nerves, digestive tract, and muscles) makes sponges challenging for non-specialists to work with and has delayed getting high quality genomic data compared to other invertebrates. Yet analyses of sponge genomes and transcriptomes currently available have radically changed our understanding of animal evolution. Sponges are of prime evolutionary importance as one of the best candidates to form the sister group of all other animals, and genomic data are essential to understand the mechanisms that control animal evolution and diversity. Here we review the most significant outcomes of current genomic and transcriptomic analyses of sponges, and discuss limitations and future directions of sponge transcriptomic and genomic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuelle Renard
- Aix Marseille Univ., Univ Avignon, CNRS, IRD, UMR 7263, Mediterranean Institute of Marine and Continental Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE), Station Marine d'Endoume, Marseille, France.,Aix Marseille Univ., CNRS, UMR 7288, IBDM, Marseille, France
| | - Sally P Leys
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Gert Wörheide
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology and Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Richard-Wagner Straße 10, 80333 Munich, Germany.,GeoBio-Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.,Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology, Munich, Germany
| | - Carole Borchiellini
- Aix Marseille Univ., Univ Avignon, CNRS, IRD, UMR 7263, Mediterranean Institute of Marine and Continental Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE), Station Marine d'Endoume, Marseille, France
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10
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Interacting-heads motif has been conserved as a mechanism of myosin II inhibition since before the origin of animals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E1991-E2000. [PMID: 29444861 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1715247115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Electron microscope studies have shown that the switched-off state of myosin II in muscle involves intramolecular interaction between the two heads of myosin and between one head and the tail. The interaction, seen in both myosin filaments and isolated molecules, inhibits activity by blocking actin-binding and ATPase sites on myosin. This interacting-heads motif is highly conserved, occurring in invertebrates and vertebrates, in striated, smooth, and nonmuscle myosin IIs, and in myosins regulated by both Ca2+ binding and regulatory light-chain phosphorylation. Our goal was to determine how early this motif arose by studying the structure of inhibited myosin II molecules from primitive animals and from earlier, unicellular species that predate animals. Myosin II from Cnidaria (sea anemones, jellyfish), the most primitive animals with muscles, and Porifera (sponges), the most primitive of all animals (lacking muscle tissue) showed the same interacting-heads structure as myosins from higher animals, confirming the early origin of the motif. The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum showed a similar, but modified, version of the motif, while the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii and fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) showed no head-head interaction, consistent with the different sequences and regulatory mechanisms of these myosins compared with animal myosin IIs. Our results suggest that head-head/head-tail interactions have been conserved, with slight modifications, as a mechanism for regulating myosin II activity from the emergence of the first animals and before. The early origins of these interactions highlight their importance in generating the inhibited (relaxed) state of myosin in muscle and nonmuscle cells.
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11
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Ramirez MD, Pairett AN, Pankey MS, Serb JM, Speiser DI, Swafford AJ, Oakley TH. The Last Common Ancestor of Most Bilaterian Animals Possessed at Least Nine Opsins. Genome Biol Evol 2018; 8:3640-3652. [PMID: 28172965 PMCID: PMC5521729 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evw248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The opsin gene family encodes key proteins animals use to sense light and has expanded dramatically as it originated early in animal evolution. Understanding the origins of opsin diversity can offer clues to how separate lineages of animals have repurposed different opsin paralogs for different light-detecting functions. However, the more we look for opsins outside of eyes and from additional animal phyla, the more opsins we uncover, suggesting we still do not know the true extent of opsin diversity, nor the ancestry of opsin diversity in animals. To estimate the number of opsin paralogs present in both the last common ancestor of the Nephrozoa (bilaterians excluding Xenoacoelomorpha), and the ancestor of Cnidaria + Bilateria, we reconstructed a reconciled opsin phylogeny using sequences from 14 animal phyla, especially the traditionally poorly-sampled echinoderms and molluscs. Our analysis strongly supports a repertoire of at least nine opsin paralogs in the bilaterian ancestor and at least four opsin paralogs in the last common ancestor of Cnidaria + Bilateria. Thus, the kernels of extant opsin diversity arose much earlier in animal history than previously known. Further, opsins likely duplicated and were lost many times, with different lineages of animals maintaining different repertoires of opsin paralogs. This phylogenetic information can inform hypotheses about the functions of different opsin paralogs and can be used to understand how and when opsins were incorporated into complex traits like eyes and extraocular sensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Desmond Ramirez
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
| | - Autum N Pairett
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
| | - M Sabrina Pankey
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
| | - Jeanne M Serb
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
| | - Daniel I Speiser
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
| | - Andrew J Swafford
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
| | - Todd H Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
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Phylogeny mandalas for illustrating the Tree of Life. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2017; 117:168-178. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2016] [Revised: 10/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Feuda R, Dohrmann M, Pett W, Philippe H, Rota-Stabelli O, Lartillot N, Wörheide G, Pisani D. Improved Modeling of Compositional Heterogeneity Supports Sponges as Sister to All Other Animals. Curr Biol 2017; 27:3864-3870.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 138] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Revised: 09/19/2017] [Accepted: 11/02/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Cavalier-Smith T. Origin of animal multicellularity: precursors, causes, consequences-the choanoflagellate/sponge transition, neurogenesis and the Cambrian explosion. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 372:rstb.2015.0476. [PMID: 27994119 PMCID: PMC5182410 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/05/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Evolving multicellularity is easy, especially in phototrophs and osmotrophs whose multicells feed like unicells. Evolving animals was much harder and unique; probably only one pathway via benthic ‘zoophytes’ with pelagic ciliated larvae allowed trophic continuity from phagocytic protozoa to gut-endowed animals. Choanoflagellate protozoa produced sponges. Converting sponge flask cells mediating larval settling to synaptically controlled nematocysts arguably made Cnidaria. I replace Haeckel's gastraea theory by a sponge/coelenterate/bilaterian pathway: Placozoa, hydrozoan diploblasty and ctenophores were secondary; stem anthozoan developmental mutations arguably independently generated coelomate bilateria and ctenophores. I emphasize animal origin's conceptual aspects (selective, developmental) related to feeding modes, cell structure, phylogeny of related protozoa, sequence evidence, ecology and palaeontology. Epithelia and connective tissue could evolve only by compensating for dramatically lower feeding efficiency that differentiation into non-choanocytes entails. Consequentially, larger bodies enabled filtering more water for bacterial food and harbouring photosynthetic bacteria, together adding more food than cell differentiation sacrificed. A hypothetical presponge of sessile triploblastic sheets (connective tissue sandwiched between two choanocyte epithelia) evolved oogamy through selection for larger dispersive ciliated larvae to accelerate benthic trophic competence and overgrowing protozoan competitors. Extinct Vendozoa might be elaborations of this organismal grade with choanocyte-bearing epithelia, before poriferan water channels and cnidarian gut/nematocysts/synapses evolved. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evo-devo in the genomics era, and the origins of morphological diversity’.
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