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Davison A, Neiman M. Mobilizing molluscan models and genomes in biology. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200163. [PMID: 33813892 PMCID: PMC8059959 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Molluscs are among the most ancient, diverse, and important of all animal taxa. Even so, no individual mollusc species has emerged as a broadly applied model system in biology. We here make the case that both perceptual and methodological barriers have played a role in the relative neglect of molluscs as research organisms. We then summarize the current application and potential of molluscs and their genomes to address important questions in animal biology, and the state of the field when it comes to the availability of resources such as genome assemblies, cell lines, and other key elements necessary to mobilising the development of molluscan model systems. We conclude by contending that a cohesive research community that works together to elevate multiple molluscan systems to 'model' status will create new opportunities in addressing basic and applied biological problems, including general features of animal evolution. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Molluscan genomics: broad insights and future directions for a neglected phylum'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angus Davison
- School of Life Sciences, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Maurine Neiman
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
- Department of Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
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Fodor I, Hussein AAA, Benjamin PR, Koene JM, Pirger Z. The unlimited potential of the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. eLife 2020; 9:e56962. [PMID: 32539932 PMCID: PMC7297532 DOI: 10.7554/elife.56962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Only a limited number of animal species lend themselves to becoming model organisms in multiple biological disciplines: one of these is the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. Extensively used since the 1970s to study fundamental mechanisms in neurobiology, the value of this freshwater snail has been also recognised in fields as diverse as host-parasite interactions, ecotoxicology, evolution, genome editing and 'omics', and human disease modelling. While there is knowledge about the natural history of this species, what is currently lacking is an integration of findings from the laboratory and the field. With this in mind, this article aims to summarise the applicability of L. stagnalis and points out that this multipurpose model organism is an excellent, contemporary choice for addressing a large range of different biological questions, problems and phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- István Fodor
- NAP Adaptive Neuroethology, Department of Experimental Zoology, Balaton Limnological Institute, Centre for Ecological ResearchTihanyHungary
| | - Ahmed AA Hussein
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije UniversiteitAmsterdamNetherlands
| | - Paul R Benjamin
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of SussexBrightonUnited Kingdom
| | - Joris M Koene
- Section of Animal Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamAmsterdamNetherlands
| | - Zsolt Pirger
- NAP Adaptive Neuroethology, Department of Experimental Zoology, Balaton Limnological Institute, Centre for Ecological ResearchTihanyHungary
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Davison A, Thomas P. Internet 'shellebrity' reflects on origin of rare mirror-image snails. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200110. [PMID: 32486938 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While animal bodies are typically bilaterally symmetric on the outside, the internal organs nearly always show an invariant left-right (LR) asymmetry. In comparison, snails are both internally and externally LR asymmetric, outwardly obvious in the shell coiling direction, or chirality. Although some species of snail are naturally variable for chirality, sinistral individuals occur very rarely in most species. The developmental and genetic basis of these rare mirror-imaged individuals remains mysterious. To resolve this issue, the finding of a 'one in a million' sinistral garden snail called 'Jeremy' was used to recruit citizen scientists to find further sinistral snails. These snails were then bred together to understand whether their occurrence is due an inherited condition. The combined evidence shows that rare sinistral garden snails are not usually produced due to a major effect maternal Mendelian locus. Instead, they are likely mainly produced by a developmental accident. This finding has relevance to understanding the common factors that define cellular and organismal LR asymmetry, and the origin of rare reversed individuals in other animal groups that exhibit nearly invariant LR asymmetry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angus Davison
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Philippe Thomas
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park NG7 2RD, UK
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Davison A. Flipping Shells! Unwinding LR Asymmetry in Mirror-Image Molluscs. Trends Genet 2020; 36:189-202. [PMID: 31952839 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2019.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Revised: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
In seeking to understand the establishment of left-right (LR) asymmetry, a limiting factor is that most animals are ordinarily invariant in their asymmetry, except when manipulated or mutated. It is therefore surprising that the wider scientific field does not appear to fully appreciate the remarkable fact that normal development in molluscs, especially snails, can flip between two chiral types without pathology. Here, I describe recent progress in understanding the evolution, development, and genetics of chiral variation in snails, and place it in context with other animals. I argue that the natural variation of snails is a crucial resource towards understanding the invariance in other animal groups and, ultimately, will be key in revealing the common factors that define cellular and organismal LR asymmetry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angus Davison
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
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Davison A, McDowell GS, Holden JM, Johnson HF, Wade CM, Chiba S, Jackson DJ, Levin M, Blaxter ML. Formin, an opinion. Development 2020; 147:147/1/dev187427. [PMID: 31919229 DOI: 10.1242/dev.187427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Gary S McDowell
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, and Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | | | - Harriet F Johnson
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
| | | | - Satoshi Chiba
- Community and Ecosystem Ecology, Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Aobayama, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
| | - Daniel J Jackson
- Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen 37077, Germany
| | - Michael Levin
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, and Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Mark L Blaxter
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
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Richards PM, Morii Y, Kimura K, Hirano T, Chiba S, Davison A. Single-gene speciation: Mating and gene flow between mirror-image snails. Evol Lett 2017; 1:282-291. [PMID: 30283656 PMCID: PMC6121799 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Accepted: 10/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Variation in the shell coiling, or chirality, of land snails provides an opportunity to investigate the potential for "single-gene" speciation, because mating between individuals of opposite chirality is believed not possible if the snails mate in a face-to-face position. However, the evidence in support of single-gene speciation is sparse, mostly based upon single-gene mitochondrial studies and patterns of chiral variation between species. Previously, we used a theoretical model to show that as the chiral phenotype of offspring is determined by the maternal genotype, occasional chiral reversals may take place and enable gene flow between mirror image morphs, preventing speciation. Here, we show empirically that there is recent or ongoing gene flow between the different chiral types of Japanese Euhadra species. We also report evidence of mating between mirror-image morphs, directly showing the potential for gene flow. Thus, theoretical models are suggestive of gene flow between oppositely coiled snails, and our empirical study shows that they can mate and that there is gene flow in Euhadra. More than a single gene is required before chiral variation in shell coiling can be considered to have created a new species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul M. Richards
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of NottinghamNottinghamNG7 2RDUnited Kingdom
| | - Yuta Morii
- Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life SciencesTohoku UniversityAobayamaSendai980–8578Japan
| | - Kazuki Kimura
- Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life SciencesTohoku UniversityAobayamaSendai980–8578Japan
| | - Takahiro Hirano
- Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life SciencesTohoku UniversityAobayamaSendai980–8578Japan
| | - Satoshi Chiba
- Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life SciencesTohoku UniversityAobayamaSendai980–8578Japan
| | - Angus Davison
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of NottinghamNottinghamNG7 2RDUnited Kingdom
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Davison A, McDowell GS, Holden JM, Johnson HF, Koutsovoulos GD, Liu MM, Hulpiau P, Van Roy F, Wade CM, Banerjee R, Yang F, Chiba S, Davey JW, Jackson DJ, Levin M, Blaxter ML. Formin Is Associated with Left-Right Asymmetry in the Pond Snail and the Frog. Curr Biol 2016; 26:654-60. [PMID: 26923788 PMCID: PMC4791482 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2015] [Revised: 12/01/2015] [Accepted: 12/29/2015] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
While components of the pathway that establishes left-right asymmetry have been identified in diverse animals, from vertebrates to flies, it is striking that the genes involved in the first symmetry-breaking step remain wholly unknown in the most obviously chiral animals, the gastropod snails. Previously, research on snails was used to show that left-right signaling of Nodal, downstream of symmetry breaking, may be an ancestral feature of the Bilateria [1 and 2]. Here, we report that a disabling mutation in one copy of a tandemly duplicated, diaphanous-related formin is perfectly associated with symmetry breaking in the pond snail. This is supported by the observation that an anti-formin drug treatment converts dextral snail embryos to a sinistral phenocopy, and in frogs, drug inhibition or overexpression by microinjection of formin has a chirality-randomizing effect in early (pre-cilia) embryos. Contrary to expectations based on existing models [3, 4 and 5], we discovered asymmetric gene expression in 2- and 4-cell snail embryos, preceding morphological asymmetry. As the formin-actin filament has been shown to be part of an asymmetry-breaking switch in vitro [6 and 7], together these results are consistent with the view that animals with diverse body plans may derive their asymmetries from the same intracellular chiral elements [8].
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Affiliation(s)
- Angus Davison
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
| | - Gary S McDowell
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, and Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Jennifer M Holden
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Harriet F Johnson
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | | | - M Maureen Liu
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Paco Hulpiau
- Department for Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, and Inflammation Research Center (IRC), VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Frans Van Roy
- Department for Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, and Inflammation Research Center (IRC), VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Christopher M Wade
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Ruby Banerjee
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Fengtang Yang
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Satoshi Chiba
- Community and Ecosystem Ecology, Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Aobayama, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
| | - John W Davey
- Department for Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, and Inflammation Research Center (IRC), VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Daniel J Jackson
- Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen 37077, Germany
| | - Michael Levin
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, and Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Mark L Blaxter
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK; Edinburgh Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
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Razkin O, Gómez-Moliner BJ, Prieto CE, Martínez-Ortí A, Arrébola JR, Muñoz B, Chueca LJ, Madeira MJ. Molecular phylogeny of the western Palaearctic Helicoidea (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2015; 83:99-117. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2014] [Revised: 11/25/2014] [Accepted: 11/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Liu MM, Davey JW, Banerjee R, Han J, Yang F, Aboobaker A, Blaxter ML, Davison A. Fine mapping of the pond snail left-right asymmetry (chirality) locus using RAD-Seq and fibre-FISH. PLoS One 2013; 8:e71067. [PMID: 23951082 PMCID: PMC3741322 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2013] [Accepted: 07/01/2013] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The left-right asymmetry of snails, including the direction of shell coiling, is determined by the delayed effect of a maternal gene on the chiral twist that takes place during early embryonic cell divisions. Yet, despite being a well-established classical problem, the identity of the gene and the means by which left-right asymmetry is established in snails remain unknown. We here demonstrate the power of new genomic approaches for identification of the chirality gene, "D". First, heterozygous (Dd) pond snails Lymnaea stagnalis were self-fertilised or backcrossed, and the genotype of more than six thousand offspring inferred, either dextral (DD/Dd) or sinistral (dd). Then, twenty of the offspring were used for Restriction-site-Associated DNA Sequencing (RAD-Seq) to identify anonymous molecular markers that are linked to the chirality locus. A local genetic map was constructed by genotyping three flanking markers in over three thousand snails. The three markers lie either side of the chirality locus, with one very tightly linked (<0.1 cM). Finally, bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) were isolated that contained the three loci. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) of pachytene cells showed that the three BACs tightly cluster on the same bivalent chromosome. Fibre-FISH identified a region of greater that ∼0.4 Mb between two BAC clone markers that must contain D. This work therefore establishes the resources for molecular identification of the chirality gene and the variation that underpins sinistral and dextral coiling. More generally, the results also show that combining genomic technologies, such as RAD-Seq and high resolution FISH, is a robust approach for mapping key loci in non-model systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengning Maureen Liu
- School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - John W. Davey
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ruby Banerjee
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jie Han
- School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Fengtang Yang
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Aziz Aboobaker
- School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mark L. Blaxter
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- The GenePool Genomics Facility, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Angus Davison
- School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Utsuno H, Asami T, Van Dooren TJM, Gittenberger E. INTERNAL SELECTION AGAINST THE EVOLUTION OF LEFT-RIGHT REVERSAL. Evolution 2011; 65:2399-411. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01293.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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Koene JM. Neuro-endocrine control of reproduction in hermaphroditic freshwater snails: mechanisms and evolution. Front Behav Neurosci 2010; 4:167. [PMID: 21088700 PMCID: PMC2981420 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2010] [Accepted: 09/19/2010] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Invertebrates are used extensively as model species to investigate neuro-endocrine processes regulating behaviors, and many of these processes may be extrapolated to vertebrates. However, when it comes to reproductive processes, many of these model species differ notably in their mode of reproduction. A point in case are simultaneously hermaphroditic molluscs. In this review I aim to achieve two things. On the one hand, I provide a comprehensive overview of the neuro-endocrine control of male and female reproductive processes in freshwater snails. Even though the focus will necessarily be on Lymnaea stagnalis, since this is the best-studied species in this respect, extensions to other species are made wherever possible. On the other hand, I will place these findings in the actual context of the whole animal, after all these are simultaneous hermaphrodites. By considering the hermaphroditic situation, I uncover a numbers of possible links between the regulation of the two reproductive systems that are present within this animal, and suggest a few possible mechanisms via which this animal can effectively switch between the two sexual roles in the flexible way that it does. Evidently, this opens up a number of new research questions and areas that explicitly integrate knowledge about behavioral decisions (e.g., mating, insemination, egg laying) and sexual selection processes (e.g., mate choice, sperm allocation) with the actual underlying neuronal and endocrine mechanisms required for these processes to act and function effectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joris M Koene
- Animal Ecology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands
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