Project description:We performed single-cell transcriptome analysis (using MARS-seq) in the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica (adult and larval stages), in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi (adult stage), and in the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens (adult stage). Additionally we performed bulk iChIP experiments (2 replicates of each experiment) using antibodies against H3K4me3 and H3K4me2 in adult Mnemiopsis leidyi and adult Trichoplax adhaerens.
Project description:We performed single-cell transcriptome analysis (using 10x) of four placozoan species (Trichoplax adhaerens, Trichoplax sp. H2, Cladtertia collaboinventa, Hoilungia hongkongensis). Additionally we performed bulk ATAC-seq experiments and anti-H3K4me2/anti-H3K4me3 ChIP-seq experiments the same species.
Project description:Animals have evolved different foraging strategies in which some animals forage independently and others forage in groups. The evolution of social feeding does not necessarily require cooperation; social feeding can be a beneficial individual-level strategy if it provides mutualistic benefits, for example though increasing the efficiency of resource extraction or processing. We found that Trichoplax adhaerens, the simplest multicellular animal ever described, engages in social feeding behavior. T. adhaerens lacks muscle tissue, nervous and digestive systems - yet is capable of aggregating and forming groups of closely connected individuals who collectively feed. The tight physical interactions between the animals are transitory and appear to serve the goal of staying connected to neighbors during the external digestion of algae when enzymes are released on the biofilm and nutrients are absorbed through the ventral epithelium. We found that T. adhaerens are more likely to engage in social feeding when the concentrations of algae are high - both in a semi-natural conditions and in vitro. It is surprising that T. adhaerens - an organism without a nervous system - is able to engage in this social feeding behavior. Whether this behavior is cooperative is still an open question. Nevertheless, the social feeding behavior of T. adhaerens, an early multicellular animal, suggests that sociality may have played an important role in the early evolution of animals. It also suggests that T. adhaerens could be used as a simple model organism for exploring questions regarding ecology and sociobiology.
Project description:Cobalamin (Cbl) is an essential cofactor for methionine synthase and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, but it must first undergo chemical processing for utilization in animals. In humans, this processing comprises β-axial ligand cleavage and Cbl reduction and is performed by the enzyme MMACHC (HsCblC). Although the functionality of CblC is well-understood in higher-order organisms, little is known about the evolutionary origin of these enzymes and the reactivity of CblCs in lower-order organisms with unique environmental and cellular conditions. Therefore, we investigated the CblC of Trichoplax adhaerens (TaCblC), a marine organism considered to be one of the earliest evolutionarily diverging and simplest living animals. The TaCblC sequence contained conserved residues important for Cbl processing in higher-order organisms. The predicted structure of TaCblC closely resembled known CblC structures and had features consistent with Cbl and cosubstrate binding capabilities. Recombinantly expressed TaCblC could bind and process several Cbl analogues using glutathione or NADH as cosubstrates, similarly to previously characterized CblCs, but with variable rates and dependencies on the presence of oxygen. Notably, TaCblC dealkylates methylcobalamin at a rate ca. 2-times higher than HsCblC, although this comes with a lower ratio of product to glutathione oxidation, suggesting higher unproductive electron transfer in the TaCblC system. This reflects differences in cellular conditions of the more ancient homologue, which lives in low oxygen levels and an environment of low Cbl bioavailability (∼2 pm in sea water).