The genetic basis for the evolution of soma: mechanistic evidence for the co-option of a stress-induced gene into a developmental master regulator.

ABSTRACT: In multicellular organisms with specialized cells, the most significant distinction among cell types is between reproductive (germ) cells and non-reproductive/somatic cells (soma). Although soma contributed to the marked increase in complexity of many multicellular lineages, little is known about its evolutionary origins. We have previously suggested that the evolution of genes responsible for the differentiation of somatic cells involved the co-option of life history trade-off genes that in unicellular organisms enhanced survival at a cost to immediate reproduction. In the multicellular green alga, Volvox carteri, cell fate is established early in development by the differential expression of a master regulatory gene known as regA. A closely related RegA-Like Sequence

SUBMITTER: Konig SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7739920 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature