Monosiga ovata
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA12870 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
Similar Datasets
Project description:Monosiga ovata 2A4 genome sequencing project
| PRJDA28161 | ENA
Project description:Transcriptome profiles of four cell types from the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta : Slow Swimmers, Rosettes, Fast Swimmers, and Thecate
2024-05-20 | GSE267344 | GEO
Project description:Pluripotent stem cells are a hallmark of animal multicellularity. Sox and POU family transcription factors are pivotal for stemness and were believed to be animal innovations as they were reported absent from the genomes of their unicellular relatives. Here we describe new unicellular holozoan orthologues to Sox and POU families, indicating that they emerged before the appearance of animals. We show that choanoflagellate and filasterean Sox genes have DNA binding specificity similar to Sox2. Choanoflagellate Sox can partner with the POU member Oct4 on DNA elements found in pluripotency enhancers. Consistently, choanoflagellate – but not filasterean – Sox genes can replace Sox2 to reprogram mouse somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). In contrast, choanoflagellate POU harbors a unique DNA-binding profile that differs from Oct4 and cannot generate iPSCs. Pluripotency reprogramming with reconstructed ancestral Sox genes shows that their molecular ability to induce stemness was already present in the last common ancestor of animals and their unicellular relatives. Our findings imply that the evolution of stem cells exploited a pre-existing set of transcription factors, where the critical innovation involved an initial change in DNA specificity of POU and the exaptation of the ancestral capacity to interact with Sox transcription factors.
2024-10-23 | GSE253887 | GEO
Project description:Pluripotent stem cells are a hallmark of animal multicellularity. Sox and POU family transcription factors are pivotal for stemness and were believed to be animal innovations as they were reported absent from the genomes of their unicellular relatives. Here we describe new unicellular holozoan orthologues to Sox and POU families, indicating that they emerged before the appearance of animals. We show that choanoflagellate and filasterean Sox genes have DNA binding specificity similar to Sox2. Choanoflagellate Sox can partner with the POU member Oct4 on DNA elements found in pluripotency enhancers. Consistently, choanoflagellate – but not filasterean – Sox genes can replace Sox2 to reprogram mouse somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). In contrast, choanoflagellate POU harbors a unique DNA-binding profile that differs from Oct4 and cannot generate iPSCs. Pluripotency reprogramming with reconstructed ancestral Sox genes shows that their molecular ability to induce stemness was already present in the last common ancestor of animals and their unicellular relatives. Our findings imply that the evolution of stem cells exploited a pre-existing set of transcription factors, where the critical innovation involved an initial change in DNA specificity of POU and the exaptation of the ancestral capacity to interact with Sox transcription factors.
2024-10-23 | GSE253886 | GEO
Project description:Bacterial nitrile hydratase (NHases) are important industrial catalysts and waste water remediation tools. In a global computational screening of conventional and metagenomic sequence data for NHases, we detected the two usually separated NHase subunits fused in one protein of the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis, a recently sequenced unicellular model organism from the closest sister group of Metazoa. This is the first time that an NHase is found in eukaryotes and the first time it is observed as a fusion protein. The presence of an intron, subunit fusion and expressed sequence tags covering parts of the gene exclude contamination and suggest a functional gene. Phylogenetic analyses and genomic context imply a probable ancient horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from proteobacteria. The newly discovered NHase might open biotechnological routes due to its unconventional structure, its new type of host and its apparent integration into eukaryotic protein networks.
| S-EPMC2603476 | biostudies-literature
Project description:SNARE protein-driven secretion of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles is at the center of neuronal communication. In the absence of the cytosolic protein Munc18-1, synaptic secretion comes to a halt. Although it is believed that Munc18-1 orchestrates SNARE complexes, its mode of action is still a matter of debate. In particular, it has been challenging to clarify the role of a tight Munc18/syntaxin 1 complex, because this interaction interferes strongly with syntaxin's ability to form a SNARE complex. In this complex, two regions of syntaxin, the N-peptide and the remainder in closed conformation, bind to Munc18 simultaneously. Until now, this binary complex has been reported for neuronal tissues only, leading to the hypothesis that it might be a specialization of the neuronal secretion apparatus. Here we aimed, by comparing the core secretion machinery of the unicellular choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis with that of animals, to reconstruct the ancestral function of the Munc18/syntaxin1 complex. We found that the Munc18/syntaxin 1 complex from M. brevicollis is structurally and functionally highly similar to the vertebrate complex, suggesting that it constitutes a fundamental step in the reaction pathway toward SNARE assembly. We thus propose that the primordial secretion machinery of the common ancestor of choanoflagellates and animals has been co-opted for synaptic roles during the rise of animals.
| S-EPMC3174607 | biostudies-literature