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New genomic data and analyses challenge the traditional vision of animal epithelium evolution.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The emergence of epithelia was the foundation of metazoan expansion. Epithelial tissues are a hallmark of metazoans deeply rooted in the evolution of their complex developmental morphogenesis processes. However, studies on the epithelial features of non-bilaterians are still sparse and it remains unclear whether the last common metazoan ancestor possessed a fully functional epithelial toolkit or if it was acquired later during metazoan evolution. RESULTS:To investigate the early evolution of animal epithelia, we sequenced the genome and transcriptomes of two new sponge species to characterize epithelial markers such as the E-cadherin complex and the polarity complexes for all classes (Calcarea, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, Homoscleromorpha) of sponges (phylum Porifera) and compare them with their homologues in Placozoa and in Ctenophora. We found that Placozoa and most sponges possess orthologues of all essential genes encoding proteins characteristic of bilaterian epithelial cells, as well as their conserved interaction domains. In stark contrast, we found that ctenophores lack several major polarity complex components such as the Crumbs complex and Scribble. Furthermore, the E-cadherin ctenophore orthologue exhibits a divergent cytoplasmic domain making it unlikely to interact with its canonical cytoplasmic partners. CONCLUSIONS:These unexpected findings challenge the current evolutionary paradigm on the emergence of epithelia. Altogether, our results raise doubt on the homology of protein complexes and structures involved in cell polarity and adhesive-type junctions between Ctenophora and Bilateria epithelia.

SUBMITTER: Belahbib H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5968619 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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New genomic data and analyses challenge the traditional vision of animal epithelium evolution.

Belahbib Hassiba H Renard Emmanuelle E Santini Sébastien S Jourda Cyril C Claverie Jean-Michel JM Borchiellini Carole C Le Bivic André A

BMC genomics 20180524 1

<h4>Background</h4>The emergence of epithelia was the foundation of metazoan expansion. Epithelial tissues are a hallmark of metazoans deeply rooted in the evolution of their complex developmental morphogenesis processes. However, studies on the epithelial features of non-bilaterians are still sparse and it remains unclear whether the last common metazoan ancestor possessed a fully functional epithelial toolkit or if it was acquired later during metazoan evolution.<h4>Results</h4>To investigate ...[more]

PMID: 29793430

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Project description:The chromophyte algae are a large and biologically diverse assemblage of brown seaweeds, diatoms, and other golden algae classified in 13 taxonomic classes. One subgroup (diatoms, pedinellids, pelagophytes, silicoflagellates, and certain enigmatic genera) is characterized by a highly reduced flagellar apparatus. The flagellar apparatus lacks microtubular and fibrous roots, and the flagellum basal body is attached directly to the nucleus. We hypothesize that the flagellar reduction is the result of a single evolutionary series of events. Cladistic analysis of ultrastructural and biochemical data reveals a monophyletic group that unites all taxa with a reduced flagellar apparatus, supporting our hypothesis. Phylogenetic analyses of 18S rRNA gene sequence data provide strong resolution within most of the major groups of chromophytes but only weakly resolve relationships among those groups. Some of the molecularly based most parsimonious trees, however, also unite the taxa with a reduced flagellar apparatus, although the diatoms are not included in this lineage. This grouping is further supported by a posteriori character weighting of the molecular data, suggesting that flagellar reduction occurred at least twice in parallel evolutionary series of events. To further test our hypothesis of a single evolutionary reduction in the flagellar apparatus, we combine the two data sets and subject the hybrid data matrix to parsimony analysis. The resulting trees unite the diatoms with the other reduced flagellar apparatus algae in a monophyletic group. This result supports our hypothesis of a single evolutionary reduction and indicates the existence of a previously unrecognized lineage of algae characterized by a highly reduced flagellar apparatus. Further, this study suggests that the traditional classification of the diatoms with the chrysophytes and xanthophytes in the division (= phylum) Chrysophyta, as presented in most textbooks, is unsatisfactory and that a significantly different classification should be employed.

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New genomic data and analyses challenge the traditional vision of animal epithelium evolution.

Publications

New genomic data and analyses challenge the traditional vision of animal epithelium evolution.

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