Dataset Information

Integrating Embryonic Development and Evolutionary History to Characterize Tentacle-Specific Cell Types in a Ctenophore.

ABSTRACT: The origin of novel traits can promote expansion into new niches and drive speciation. Ctenophores (comb jellies) are unified by their possession of a novel cell type: the colloblast, an adhesive cell found only in the tentacles. Although colloblast-laden tentacles are fundamental for prey capture among ctenophores, some species have tentacles lacking colloblasts and others have lost their tentacles completely. We used transcriptomes from 36 ctenophore species to identify gene losses that occurred specifically in lineages lacking colloblasts and tentacles. We cross-referenced these colloblast- and tentacle-specific candidate genes with temporal RNA-Seq during embryogenesis in Mnemiopsis leidyi and found that both sets of candidates are preferentially expressed during tentacle morphogenesis. We also demonstrate significant upregulation of candidates from both data sets in the tentacle bulb of adults. Both sets of candidates were enriched for an N-terminal signal peptide and protein domains associated with secretion; among tentacle candidates we also identified orthologs of cnidarian toxin proteins, presenting tantalizing evidence that ctenophore tentacles may secrete toxins along with their adhesive. Finally, using cell lineage tracing, we demonstrate that colloblasts and neurons share a common progenitor, suggesting the evolution of colloblasts involved co-option of a neurosecretory gene regulatory network. Together these data offer an initial glimpse into the genetic architecture underlying ctenophore cell-type diversity.

SUBMITTER: Babonis LS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6278862 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Integrating Embryonic Development and Evolutionary History to Characterize Tentacle-Specific Cell Types in a Ctenophore.

Babonis Leslie S LS DeBiasse Melissa B MB Francis Warren R WR Christianson Lynne M LM Moss Anthony G AG Haddock Steven H D SHD Martindale Mark Q MQ Ryan Joseph F JF

Molecular biology and evolution 20181201 12

The origin of novel traits can promote expansion into new niches and drive speciation. Ctenophores (comb jellies) are unified by their possession of a novel cell type: the colloblast, an adhesive cell found only in the tentacles. Although colloblast-laden tentacles are fundamental for prey capture among ctenophores, some species have tentacles lacking colloblasts and others have lost their tentacles completely. We used transcriptomes from 36 ctenophore species to identify gene losses that occurr ...[more]

PMID: 30169705

Similar Datasets

Project description:The germ layer concept has been one of the foremost organizing principles in developmental biology, classification, systematics and evolution for 150 years. Of the three germ layers, the mesoderm is found in bilaterian animals but is absent in species in the phyla Cnidaria and Ctenophora, which has been taken as evidence that the mesoderm was the final germ layer to evolve. The origin of the ectoderm and endoderm layers, however, remains unclear with models supporting the antecedence of each as well as a simultaneous origin. We hypothesized that global analysis of gene expression in each layer throughout development may resolve the early events of animal evolution. Here, we determine the temporal and spatial components of gene expression spanning embryonic development for all C. elegans genes and use it to determine the evolutionary age of the germ layers. The gene expression programs of the mesoderm is generally induced after the ectoderm and endoderm germ layers, thus making it the last germ layer to both evolve and develop. Strikingly, the C. elegans endoderm and ectoderm expression programs do not co-induce; rather the endoderm activates earlier. We also observed early expression of endoderm orthologs during the embryology of Xenopus tropicalis, Nematostella vectensis, and the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica. Querying for the phylogenetic ages of specifically expressed genes revealed that the endoderm is comprised of older genes, supporting its antecedence among the germ layers. Taken together, we propose that the endoderm program has retained the feeding functions of the last common ancestor with the choanoflagellates, thus allowing for the specialization of an ectoderm germ layer. Our work reveals that the evolutionary appearance of the germ layers continues to constrain regulatory networks in metazoans. Two temporal assays of C. elegans embryonic development, starting at the zygote: (a) Embryos collected at fixed (~10 minute) time intervals. (b) Embryo segregates, up to five lines of blastomeres, isolated in reference to mitotic events. There were 184 samples in total, representing 100 distnict data points.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The Sox genes, a family of transcription factors characterized by the presence of a high mobility group (HMG) box domain, are among the central groups of developmental regulators in the animal kingdom. They are indispensable in progenitor cell fate determination, and various Sox family members are involved in managing the critical balance between stem cells and differentiating cells. There are 20 mammalian Sox genes that are divided into five major groups (B, C, D, E, and F). True Sox genes have been identified in all animal lineages but not outside Metazoa, indicating that this gene family arose at the origin of the animals. Whole-genome sequencing of the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi allowed us to examine the full complement and expression of the Sox gene family in this early-branching animal lineage. RESULTS:Our phylogenetic analyses of the Sox gene family were generally in agreement with previous studies and placed five of the six Mnemiopsis Sox genes into one of the major Sox groups: SoxB (MleSox1), SoxC (MleSox2), SoxE (MleSox3, MleSox4), and SoxF (MleSox5), with one unclassified gene (MleSox6). We investigated the expression of five out of six Mnemiopsis Sox genes during early development. Expression patterns determined through in situ hybridization generally revealed spatially restricted Sox expression patterns in somatic cells within zones of cell proliferation, as determined by EdU staining. These zones were located in the apical sense organ, upper tentacle bulbs, and developing comb rows in Mnemiopsis, and coincide with similar zones identified in the cydippid ctenophore Pleurobrachia. CONCLUSIONS:Our results are consistent with the established role of multiple Sox genes in the maintenance of stem cell pools. Both similarities and differences in juvenile cydippid stage expression patterns between Mnemiopsis Sox genes and their orthologs from Pleurobrachia highlight the importance of using multiple species to characterize the evolution of development within a given phylum. In light of recent phylogenetic evidence that Ctenophora is the earliest-branching animal lineage, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the ancient primary function of Sox family genes was to regulate the maintenance of stem cells and function in cell fate determination.

Dataset Information

Integrating Embryonic Development and Evolutionary History to Characterize Tentacle-Specific Cell Types in a Ctenophore.

Publications

Integrating Embryonic Development and Evolutionary History to Characterize Tentacle-Specific Cell Types in a Ctenophore.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets