A Search for the Origins of Animals and Fungi: Comparing and Combining Molecular Data

Entomopathogenic fungi: insights into recent understanding

Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are cosmopolitan, obligate, or facultative pathogens that show ruthless aggression toward various insects and ultimately cause them to die. They also have the ability to colonize and establish symbiotic relationships with plants as endophytes, thus offering a number of benefits to the host plants, inducing plant resistance against a number of biotic and abiotic stresses, and growth promotion. Recently, considerable attention has been paid to this group of fungi, mainly due to their exceptional ability to control numerous arthropod pests in crops. This practical application of EPF, which is of great interest, offers an eco-friendly manner of pest control, a key feature that makes them a potential solution to growing environmental concerns. This eco-friendly nature of EPF is particularly significant in the current context of growing environmental concerns and the need for sustainable solutions. This paper has attempted to review our current understanding of EPF. First, we briefly describe the historical identifications of EPF, landmark studies, and their classifications. Second, we discuss the group from an evolutionary standpoint. Third, the insect infection mechanisms, particularly the cuticular penetration pathway and different steps, are discussed. Finally, we emphasize the eco-friendly nature of these fungi, which makes them a sustainable option to mitigate the devastating effects of insect pests in current agriculture systems.

Biologically Active Compounds in True Slime Molds and Their Prospects for Sustainable Pest and Pathogen Control

True slime molds (Eumycetozoa) represent a monophyletic clade within the phylum Amoebozoa, comprising the lineages Myxogastria, Dictyostelia, and Protosporangiida. Although historically misclassified as fungi, recent molecular and biochemical studies underscore their distinct evolutionary trajectories and rich metabolomic profiles. In this review, we synthesize current knowledge on Eumycetozoa as a reservoir of bioactive compounds, detailing how secondary metabolites-including polysaccharides, amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, terpenoids, and glycosides-vary across plasmodia, fruiting bodies, and spores. A systematic literature search in major scientific databases accounted for legacy nomenclature and leveraged chemoinformatic tools for compound verification. Our findings reveal 298 distinct metabolites that serve ecological roles in nutrient recycling and interspecies interactions, while also showing promise for controlling agricultural pests and pathogens. Notably, certain glycosides, lectins, and polyketides exhibit antimicrobial or cytotoxic activities, indicating their potential utility in managing these biological challenges. By consolidating current data and emphasizing the wide taxonomic range of Eumycetozoa, this review highlights the critical need for comprehensive biochemical and genomic investigations. Such efforts will not only advance our understanding of slime mold metabolomes and their evolutionary significance but also pave the way for innovative, eco-friendly applications.

Exploring discrete space-time models for information transfer: Analogies from mycelial networks to the cosmic web

Fungal mycelium networks are large scale biological networks along which nutrients, metabolites flow. Recently, we discovered a rich spectrum of electrical activity in mycelium networks, including action-potential spikes and trains of spikes. Reasoning by analogy with animals and plants, where travelling patterns of electrical activity perform integrative and communicative mechanisms, we speculated that waves of electrical activity transfer information in mycelium networks. Using a new discrete space-time model with emergent radial spanning-tree topology, hypothetically comparable mycelial morphology and physically comparable information transfer, we provide physical arguments for the use of such a model, and by considering growing mycelium network by analogy with growing network of matter in the cosmic web, we develop mathematical models and theoretical concepts to characterise the parameters of the information transfer.

Evolution of the sodium pump

Eukaryotic plasma membranes (PMs) are energized by electrogenic P-type ATPases that generate either Na+ or H+ motive forces to drive Na+ and H+ dependent transport processes, respectively. For this purpose, animal rely on Na+/K+-ATPases whereas fungi and plants employ PM H+-ATPases. Prokaryotes, on the other hand, depend on H+ or Na+-motive electron transport complexes to energize their cell membranes. This raises the question as to why and when electrogenic Na+ and H+ pumps evolved? Here it is shown that prokaryotic Na+/K+-ATPases have near perfect conservation of binding sites involved in coordination of three Na+ and two K+ ions. Such pumps are rare in Eubacteria but are common in methanogenic Archaea where they often are found together with P-type putative PM H+-ATPases. With some exceptions, Na+/K+-ATPases and PM H+-ATPases are found everywhere in the eukaryotic tree of life, but never together in animals, fungi and land plants. It is hypothesized that Na+/K+-ATPases and PM H+-ATPases evolved in methanogenic Archaea to support the bioenergetics of these ancestral organisms, which can utilize both H+ and Na+ as energy currencies. Both pumps must have been simultaneously present in the first eukaryotic cell, but during diversification of the major eukaryotic kingdoms, and at the time animals diverged from fungi, animals kept Na+/K+-ATPases but lost PM H+-ATPases. At the same evolutionary branch point, fungi did loose Na+/K+-ATPases, and their role was taken over by PM H+-ATPases. An independent but similar scenery emerged during terrestrialization of plants: they lost Na+/K+-ATPases but kept PM H+-ATPases.

Human FoxP Transcription Factors as Tractable Models of the Evolution and Functional Outcomes of Three-Dimensional Domain Swapping

The association of two or more proteins to adopt a quaternary complex is one of the most widespread mechanisms by which protein function is modulated. In this scenario, three-dimensional domain swapping (3D-DS) constitutes one plausible pathway for the evolution of protein oligomerization that exploits readily available intramolecular contacts to be established in an intermolecular fashion. However, analysis of the oligomerization kinetics and thermodynamics of most extant 3D-DS proteins shows its dependence on protein unfolding, obscuring the elucidation of the emergence of 3D-DS during evolution, its occurrence under physiological conditions, and its biological relevance. Here, we describe the human FoxP subfamily of transcription factors as a feasible model to study the evolution of 3D-DS, due to their significantly faster dissociation and dimerization kinetics and lower dissociation constants in comparison to most 3D-DS models. Through the biophysical and functional characterization of FoxP proteins, relevant structural aspects highlighting the evolutionary adaptations of these proteins to enable efficient 3D-DS have been ascertained. Most biophysical studies on FoxP suggest that the dynamics of the polypeptide chain are crucial to decrease the energy barrier of 3D-DS, enabling its fast oligomerization under physiological conditions. Moreover, comparison of biophysical parameters between human FoxP proteins in the context of their minute sequence differences suggests differential evolutionary strategies to favor homoassociation and presages the possibility of heteroassociations, with direct impacts in their gene regulation function.

Progress towards the Tree of Eukaryotes

Developing a detailed understanding of how all known forms of life are related to one another in the tree of life has been a major preoccupation of biology since the idea of tree-like evolution first took hold. Since most life is microbial, our intuitive use of morphological comparisons to infer relatedness only goes so far, and molecular sequence data, most recently from genomes and transcriptomes, has been the primary means to infer these relationships. For prokaryotes this presented new challenges, since the degree of horizontal gene transfer led some to question the tree-like depiction of evolution altogether. Most eukaryotes are also microbial, but in contrast to prokaryotic life, the application of large-scale molecular data to the tree of eukaryotes has largely been a constructive process, leading to a small number of very diverse lineages, or 'supergroups'. The tree is not completely resolved, and contentious problems remain, but many well-established supergroups now encompass much more diversity than the traditional kingdoms. Some of the most exciting recent developments come from the discovery of branches in the tree that we previously had no inkling even existed, many of which are of great ecological or evolutionary interest. These new branches highlight the need for more exploration, by high-throughput molecular surveys, but also more traditional means of observations and cultivation.

Larger Area Facilitates Richness-Function Effects in Experimental Microcosms

Species-area relationships (SAR) and biodiversity-ecosystem function (BEF) relationships are central patterns in community ecology. Although research on both patterns often invokes mechanisms of community assembly, both SARs and BEFs are generally treated as separate phenomena. Here we link the two by creating an experimental SAR in microcosm communities and show that greater species richness in larger areas is accompanied by greater ecosystem function. We then explore mechanisms of community assembly by determining whether rare, large, or high-biomass species are more likely to persist in the larger microcosms. Our results indicate that larger areas harbor more rare species of a wider range of body sizes and have higher functional diversity, implying that the addition of niche space that supports rare species underlies the effect of area on species richness and function. Our results suggest that the preservation of large areas is a potentially useful way of maximizing the provisioning of ecosystem services through the maintenance of biodiversity.

How to boost marine fungal research: A first step towards a multidisciplinary approach by combining molecular fungal ecology and natural products chemistry

Marine fungi have attracted attention in recent years due to increased appreciation of their functional role in ecosystems and as important sources of new natural products. The concomitant development of various "omic" technologies has boosted fungal research in the fields of biodiversity, physiological ecology and natural product biosynthesis. Each of these research areas has its own research agenda, scientific language and quality standards, which have so far hindered an interdisciplinary exchange. Inter- and transdisciplinary interactions are, however, vital for: (i) a detailed understanding of the ecological role of marine fungi, (ii) unlocking their hidden potential for natural product discovery, and (iii) designing access routes for biotechnological production. In this review and opinion paper, we describe the two different "worlds" of marine fungal natural product chemists and marine fungal molecular ecologists. The individual scientific approaches and tools employed are summarised and explained, and enriched with a first common glossary. We propose a strategy to find a multidisciplinary approach towards a comprehensive view on marine fungi and their chemical potential.

Logics and properties of a genetic regulatory program that drives embryonic muscle development in an echinoderm

Evolutionary origin of muscle is a central question when discussing mesoderm evolution. Developmental mechanisms underlying somatic muscle development have mostly been studied in vertebrates and fly where multiple signals and hierarchic genetic regulatory cascades selectively specify myoblasts from a pool of naive mesodermal progenitors. However, due to the increased organismic complexity and distant phylogenetic position of the two systems, a general mechanistic understanding of myogenesis is still lacking. In this study, we propose a gene regulatory network (GRN) model that promotes myogenesis in the sea urchin embryo, an early branching deuterostome. A fibroblast growth factor signaling and four Forkhead transcription factors consist the central part of our model and appear to orchestrate the myogenic process. The topological properties of the network reveal dense gene interwiring and a multilevel transcriptional regulation of conserved and novel myogenic genes. Finally, the comparison of the myogenic network architecture among different animal groups highlights the evolutionary plasticity of developmental GRNs.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07343.001

Muscles, bones, and blood vessels all develop from a tissue called the mesoderm, which forms early on in the development of an embryo. Networks of genes control which parts of the mesoderm transform into different cell types. The gene networks that control the development of muscle cells from the mesoderm have so far been investigated in flies and several species of animals with backbones. However, these species are complex, which makes it difficult to work out the general principles that control muscle cell development.

Sea urchins are often studied in developmental biology as they have many of the same genes as more complex animals, but are much simpler and easier to study in the laboratory. Andrikou et al. therefore investigated the ‘gene regulatory network’ that controls muscle development in sea urchins. This revealed that proteins called Forkhead transcription factors and a process called FGF signaling are crucial for controlling muscle development in sea urchins. These are also important factors for developing muscles in other animals.

Andrikou et al. then produced models that show the interactions between the genes that control muscle formation at three different stages of embryonic development. These models reveal several important features of the muscle development gene regulatory network. For example, the network is robust: if one gene fails, the network is connected in a way that allows it to still make muscle. This also allows the network to adapt and evolve without losing the ability to perform any of its existing roles.

Comparing the gene regulatory network that controls muscle development in sea urchins with the networks found in other animals showed that many of the same genes are used across different species, but are connected into different network structures. Investigating the similarities and differences of the regulatory networks in different species could help us to understand how muscles have evolved and could ultimately lead to a better understanding of the causes of developmental diseases.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07343.002

Forkhead followed by disordered tail: The intrinsically disordered regions of FOXO3a

Forkhead box Class O is one of 19 subfamilies of the Forkhead box family, comprising 4 human transcription factors: FOXO1, FOXO3a, FOXO4, and FOXO6, which are involved in many crucial cellular processes. FOXO3a is a tumor suppressor involved in multiple physiological and pathological processes, and plays essential roles in metabolism, cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptosis. In its role as a transcription factor, the FOXO3a binds a consensus Forkhead response element DNA sequence, and recruits transcriptional coactivators to activate gene transcription. FOXO3a has additional functions, such as regulating p53-mediated apoptosis and activating kinase ATM. With the exception of the structured DNA-binding forkhead domain, most of the FOXO3a sequence comprises intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), including 3 regions (CR1-3) that are conserved within the FOXO subfamily. Numerous studies have demonstrated that these IDRs directly mediate many of the diverse functions of FOXO3a. These regions contain post-translational modification and protein-protein interaction sites that integrate upstream signals to maintain homeostasis. Thus, the FOXO3a IDRs are emerging as key mediators of diverse regulatory processes, and represent an important target for the future development of therapeutics for FOXO3a-related diseases.

The eukaryotic tree of life from a global phylogenomic perspective

Molecular phylogenetics has revolutionized our knowledge of the eukaryotic tree of life. With the advent of genomics, a new discipline of phylogenetics has emerged: phylogenomics. This method uses large alignments of tens to hundreds of genes to reconstruct evolutionary histories. This approach has led to the resolution of ancient and contentious relationships, notably between the building blocks of the tree (the supergroups), and allowed to place in the tree enigmatic yet important protist lineages for understanding eukaryote evolution. Here, I discuss the pros and cons of phylogenomics and review the eukaryotic supergroups in light of earlier work that laid the foundation for the current view of the tree, including the position of the root. I conclude by presenting a picture of eukaryote evolution, summarizing the most recent progress in assembling the global tree.

The genomic and cellular foundations of animal origins

The first animals arose more than six hundred million years ago, yet they left little impression in the fossil record. Nonetheless, the cell biology and genome composition of the first animal, the Urmetazoan, can be reconstructed through the study of phylogenetically relevant living organisms. Comparisons among animals and their unicellular and colonial relatives reveal that the Urmetazoan likely possessed a layer of epithelium-like collar cells, preyed on bacteria, reproduced by sperm and egg, and developed through cell division, cell differentiation, and invagination. Although many genes involved in development, body patterning, immunity, and cell-type specification evolved in the animal stem lineage or after animal origins, several gene families critical for cell adhesion, signaling, and gene regulation predate the origin of animals. The ancestral functions of these and other genes may eventually be revealed through studies of gene and genome function in early-branching animals and their closest non-animal relatives.

Sequence variation in two protein-coding genes correlates with mycelial compatibility groupings in Sclerotium rolfsii

Populations of Sclerotium rolfsii, the causal organism of Sclerotium root-rot on a wide range of hosts, can be placed into mycelial compatibility groups (MCGs). In this study, we evaluated three different molecular approaches to unequivocally identify each of 12 previously identified MCGs. These included restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and sequence analysis of two protein-coding genes: translation elongation factor 1α (EF1α) and RNA polymerase II subunit two (RPB2). A collection of 238 single-sclerotial isolates representing 12 MCGs of S. rolfsii were obtained from diseased sugar beet plants from Chile, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. ITS-RFLP analysis using four restriction enzymes (AluI, HpaII, RsaI, and MboI) displayed a low degree of variability among MCGs. Only three different restriction profiles were identified among S. rolfsii isolates, with no correlation to MCG or to geographic origin. Based on nucleotide polymorphisms, the RPB2 gene was more variable among MCGs compared with the EF1α gene. Thus, 10 of 12 MCGs could be characterized utilizing the RPB2 region only, while the EF1α region resolved 7 MCGs. However, the analysis of combined partial sequences of EF1α and RPB2 genes allowed discrimination among each of the 12 MCGs. All isolates belonging to the same MCG showed identical nucleotide sequences that differed by at least in one nucleotide from a different MCG. The consistency of our results to identify the MCG of a given S. rolfsii isolate using the combined sequences of EF1α and RPB2 genes was confirmed using blind trials. Our study demonstrates that sequence variation in the protein-coding genes EF1α and RPB2 may be exploited as a diagnostic tool for MCG typing in S. rolfsii as well as to identify previously undescribed MCGs.

PHYMYCO-DB: a curated database for analyses of fungal diversity and evolution

BACKGROUND

In environmental sequencing studies, fungi can be identified based on nucleic acid sequences, using either highly variable sequences as species barcodes or conserved sequences containing a high-quality phylogenetic signal. For the latter, identification relies on phylogenetic analyses and the adoption of the phylogenetic species concept. Such analysis requires that the reference sequences are well identified and deposited in public-access databases. However, many entries in the public sequence databases are problematic in terms of quality and reliability and these data require screening to ensure correct phylogenetic interpretation.

METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

To facilitate phylogenetic inferences and phylogenetic assignment, we introduce a fungal sequence database. The database PHYMYCO-DB comprises fungal sequences from GenBank that have been filtered to satisfy stringent sequence quality criteria. For the first release, two widely used molecular taxonomic markers were chosen: the nuclear SSU rRNA and EF1-α gene sequences. Following the automatic extraction and filtration, a manual curation is performed to remove problematic sequences while preserving relevant sequences useful for phylogenetic studies. As a result of curation, ~20% of the automatically filtered sequences have been removed from the database. To demonstrate how PHYMYCO-DB can be employed, we test a set of environmental Chytridiomycota sequences obtained from deep sea samples.

CONCLUSION

PHYMYCO-DB offers the tools necessary to: (i) extract high quality fungal sequences for each of the 5 fungal phyla, at all taxonomic levels, (ii) extract already performed alignments, to act as 'reference alignments', (iii) launch alignments of personal sequences along with stored data. A total of 9120 SSU rRNA and 672 EF1-α high-quality fungal sequences are now available. The PHYMYCO-DB is accessible through the URL http://phymycodb.genouest.org/.

SeqFIRE: a web application for automated extraction of indel regions and conserved blocks from protein multiple sequence alignments

Analyses of multiple sequence alignments generally focus on well-defined conserved sequence blocks, while the rest of the alignment is largely ignored or discarded. This is especially true in phylogenomics, where large multigene datasets are produced through automated pipelines. However, some of the most powerful phylogenetic markers have been found in the variable length regions of multiple alignments, particularly insertions/deletions (indels) in protein sequences. We have developed Sequence Feature and Indel Region Extractor (SeqFIRE) to enable the automated identification and extraction of indels from protein sequence alignments. The program can also extract conserved blocks and identify fast evolving sites using a combination of conservation and entropy. All major variables can be adjusted by the user, allowing them to identify the sets of variables most suited to a particular analysis or dataset. Thus, all major tasks in preparing an alignment for further analysis are combined in a single flexible and user-friendly program. The output includes a numbered list of indels, alignments in NEXUS format with indels annotated or removed and indel-only matrices. SeqFIRE is a user-friendly web application, freely available online at www.seqfire.org/.

Mechanistic insights into aging, cell-cycle progression, and stress response

The longevity of an organism depends on the health of its cells. Throughout life cells are exposed to numerous intrinsic and extrinsic stresses, such as free radicals, generated through mitochondrial electron transport, and ultraviolet irradiation. The cell has evolved numerous mechanisms to scavenge free radicals and repair damage induced by these insults. One mechanism employed by the yeast Saccharomycescerevisiae to combat stress utilizes the Anaphase Promoting Complex (APC), an essential multi-subunit ubiquitin-protein ligase structurally and functionally conserved from yeast to humans that controls progression through mitosis and G1. We have observed that yeast cells expressing compromised APC subunits are sensitive to multiple stresses and have shorter replicative and chronological lifespans. In a pathway that runs parallel to that regulated by the APC, members of the Forkhead box (Fox) transcription factor family also regulate stress responses. The yeast Fox orthologs Fkh1 and Fkh2 appear to drive the transcription of stress response factors and slow early G1 progression, while the APC seems to regulate chromatin structure, chromosome segregation, and resetting of the transcriptome in early G1. In contrast, under non-stress conditions, the Fkhs play a complex role in cell-cycle progression, partially through activation of the APC. Direct and indirect interactions between the APC and the yeast Fkhs appear to be pivotal for lifespan determination. Here we explore the potential for these interactions to be evolutionarily conserved as a mechanism to balance cell-cycle regulation with stress responses.

Genome nucleotide composition shapes variation in simple sequence repeats

Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) or microsatellites are a common component of genomes but vary greatly across species in their abundance. We tested the hypothesis that this variation is due in part to AT/GC content of genomes, with genomes biased toward either high AT or high CG generating more short random repeats that are long enough to enhance expansion through slippage during replication. To test this hypothesis, we identified repeats with perfect tandem iterations of 1-6 bp from 25 protists with complete or near-complete genome sequences. As expected, the density and the frequency are highly related to genome AT content, with excellent fits to quadratic regressions with minima near a 50% AT content and rising toward both extremes. Within species, the same trends hold, except the limited variation in AT content within each species places each mainly on the descending (GC rich), middle, or ascending (AT rich) part of the curve. The base usages of repeat motifs are also significantly correlated with genome nucleotide compositions: Percentages of AT-rich motifs rise with the increase of genome AT content but vice versa for GC-rich subgroups. Amino acid homopolymer repeats also show the expected quadratic relationship, with higher abundance in species with AT content biased in either direction. Our results show that genome nucleotide composition explains up to half of the variance in the abundance and motif constitution of SSRs.

Sequence-based identification of Japanese Armillaria species using the elongation factor-1 alpha gene

We analyzed the sequences of three DNA regions-the translation elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1 alpha) gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and intergenic spacer (IGS) regions of ribosomal DNA-to compare their accuracy in identifying species of Japanese Armillaria. We studied 49 isolates of eight Armillaria species, A. mellea, A. ostoyae, A. nabsnona, A. cepistipes, A. gallica, A. sinapina, A. tabescens and the biological species Nagasawa E (Nag. E). Phylogenetic analyses of the ITS and IGS data helped in identifying A. mellea, A. ostoyae, A. nabsnona, A. tabescens and Nag. E but could not be used to identify A. gallica, A. cepistipes and A. sinapina. Nevertheless our analysis showed that the EF-1 alpha gene was clearly different in the eight examined species. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) of the IGS-1 region could be used to distinguish most species, but the RFLP profiles of some isolates of A. cepistipes and A. sinapina were the same even with four different restriction enzymes. In conclusion, among the techniques examined in this study, analyzing the EF-1 alpha sequence was found to be the most suitable method for identifying different species of Japanese Armillaria.

Analysis of rare genomic changes does not support the unikont-bikont phylogeny and suggests cyanobacterial symbiosis as the point of primary radiation of eukaryotes

The deep phylogeny of eukaryotes is an important but extremely difficult problem of evolutionary biology. Five eukaryotic supergroups are relatively well established but the relationship between these supergroups remains elusive, and their divergence seems to best fit a “Big Bang” model. Attempts were made to root the tree of eukaryotes by using potential derived shared characters such as unique fusions of conserved genes. One popular model of eukaryotic evolution that emerged from this type of analysis is the unikont–bikont phylogeny: The unikont branch consists of Metazoa, Choanozoa, Fungi, and Amoebozoa, whereas bikonts include the rest of eukaryotes, namely, Plantae (green plants, Chlorophyta, and Rhodophyta), Chromalveolata, excavates, and Rhizaria. We reexamine the relationships between the eukaryotic supergroups using a genome-wide analysis of rare genomic changes (RGCs) associated with multiple, conserved amino acids (RGC_CAMs and RGC_CAs), to resolve trifurcations of major eukaryotic lineages. The results do not support the basal position of Chromalveolata with respect to Plantae and unikonts or the monophyly of the bikont group and appear to be best compatible with the monophyly of unikonts and Chromalveolata. Chromalveolata show a distinct, additional signal of affinity with Plantae, conceivably, owing to genes transferred from the secondary, red algal symbiont. Excavates are derived forms, with extremely long branches that complicate phylogenetic inference; nevertheless, the RGC analysis suggests that they are significantly more likely to cluster with the unikont–Chromalveolata assemblage than with the Plantae. Thus, the first split in eukaryotic evolution might lie between photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic forms and so could have been triggered by the endosymbiosis between an ancestral unicellular eukaryote and a cyanobacterium that gave rise to the chloroplast.

Evolutionary selection pressure of forkhead domain and functional divergence

Forkhead-box (Fox) genes encode a family of transcription factors defined by a "winged helix" DNA-binding domain which have been identified in many metazoans, and play important roles in diverse biological processes. Here we aimed to extend previous evolutionary selection analysis to fungi, using available sequences from E. cuniculi (Ec), Eremothecium gossypii (Eg), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc), etc. The phylogeny of 335 Fox protein sequences was reconstructed, revealing the existence of 26 orthologous groups that were well supported by gene phylogeny which arose following a series of gene duplication events. Gene conversion events may also play important roles in the evolution of Fox genes. The nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution ratios (dN/dS) for orthologous groups suggested that after gene duplication and/or speciation of forkhead clusters, rapid differentiation and the negative selection have occurred, prompting the formation of distinct Fox subclasses and new functions. SDPpred was used to produce a set of the alignment positions (specificity determining positions) which is involved in conferring differential functional specificity. These findings explained the functional divergence of Fox gene family.

Multiple isolations of a culturable, motile Ichthyosporean (Mesomycetozoa, Opisthokonta), Creolimax fragrantissima n. gen., n. sp., from marine invertebrate digestive tracts

A fragrant, spherical, osmotrophic eukaryote was isolated 27 times from the digestive tracts of marine invertebrates collected from the Northeast Pacific. The isolates were cultured from 7 animal collections over a 2-year period, most from the peanut worm, Phascolosoma agassizii. A small subunit ribosomal DNA phylogeny placed the spherical organism within the ichthyosporea, closest to Sphaeroforma arctica and Pseudoperkinsus tapetis. Supporting the close relationship of isolates, the sequences of ribosomal gene internal transcribed spacers determined for 26 isolates were identical, as were the elongation factor 1-alpha-like gene fragments from 7 isolates. Dispersal via amoeboid cells distinguished this species from its closest relatives and led to the erection of a new genus and species, "Creolimax fragrantissima." Vegetative cells reproduced asexually in vitro after they reached 30-60 microm in diameter by producing amoebae or endospores, which escaped through openings in the parent cell wall. Ultrathin sections of vegetative cells prepared by high-pressure-freeze substitution provided some of the first images of ichthyosporean spindle pole bodies and document, for the first time, tubular extensions of the plasma membrane into an electron-translucent inner layer of the cell wall. Ichthyosporeans are parasites and commensals of animals and culturable species are few. Because "C. fragrantissima" can be isolated regularly and repeatedly from nature and then grown easily through cycles of asexual reproduction, it has the potential to serve as a model organism for further research into marine ichthyosporeans.

A habitat colonisation model for spore-dispersed organisms: does it work with eumycetozoans?

Spore productivities and establishment probabilities of eumycetozoans were estimated and compared with quantitative data obtained from field surveys, using series of cultures of a given substrate. Spore numbers per spore case were found to increase from one to four in protostelids to up to 10(5)-10(6) in myxomycetes, whereas average spore size decreased slightly from 14.8 microm for protostelids to 10.3 microm in myxomycetes. Spore numbers of fructifications calculated from dimensions of spores and fruit bodies were in good agreement with direct counts carried out for six species of myxomycetes. A colonisation model is presented that estimates frequencies (as a percent of successfully colonized habitat islands), which is independent of a given density of spore rain and the sexual system of the species being considered. Whereas asexual species need a minimum spore rain of ca 0.7 spores per habitat island to reach a frequency of 50%, this figure is at least 2.4-fold higher for sexual species, depending from the incompatibility system assumed. Data from cultures indicate that the maximum potential spore rain is usually three orders of magnitude higher than the minimum figure required to create the observed frequencies. Eumycetozoans seem to follow the evolutionary trends predicted by the model. Species with sexual reproductive systems produce often more spores than asexual ones; many morphospecies have sexual and asexual strains; and back-conversion from sexual to asexual reproduction occurs occasionally.

Detection of Stachybotrys chartarum using rRNA, tri5, and beta-tubulin primers and determining their relative copy number by real-time PCR

Highly conserved regions are attractive targets for detection and quantitation by PCR, but designing species-specific primer sets can be difficult. Ultimately, almost all primer sets are designed based upon literature searches in public domain databases, such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Prudence suggests that the researcher needs to evaluate as many sequences as available for designing species-specific PCR primers. In this report, we aligned 11, 9, and 16 DNA sequences entered for Stachybotrys spp. rRNA, tri5, and beta-tubulin regions, respectively. Although we were able to align and determine consensus primer sets for the 9 tri5 and the 16 beta-tubulin sequences, there was no consensus sequence that could be derived from alignment of the 11 rRNA sequences. However, by judicious clustering of the sequences that aligned well, we were able to design three sets of primers for the rRNA region of S. chartarum. The two primer sets for tri5 and beta-tubulin produced satisfactory PCR results for all four strains of S. chartarum used in this study whereas only one rRNA primer set of three produced similar satisfactory results. Ultimately, we were able to show that rRNA copy number is approximately 2-log greater than for tri5 and beta-tubulin in the four strains of S. chartarum tested.

Yeast forms dominate fungal diversity in the deep oceans

Fungi are the principal degraders of biomass in most terrestrial ecosystems. In contrast to surface environments, deep-sea environmental gene libraries have suggested that fungi are rare and non-diverse in high-pressure marine environments. Here, we report the diversity of fungi from 11 deep-sea samples from around the world representing depths from 1,500 to 4,000 m (146-388 atm) and two shallower water column samples (250 and 500m). We sequenced 239 clones from 10 fungal-specific 18S rRNA gene libraries constructed from these samples, from which we detected only 18 fungal 18S-types in deep-sea samples. Our phylogenetic analyses show that a total of only 32 fungal 18S-types have so far been recovered from deep-sea habitats, and our results suggest that fungi, in general, are relatively rare in the deep-sea habitats we sampled. The fungal diversity detected suggests that deep-sea environments host an evolutionarily diverse array of fungi dominated by groups of distantly related yeasts, although four putative filamentous fungal 18S-types were detected. The majority of our new sequences branch close to known fungi found in surface environments. This pattern contradicts the proposal that deep-sea and hydrothermal vent habitats represent ancient ecosystems, and demonstrates a history of frequent dispersal between terrestrial and deep-sea habitats.

Identification of a mitochondrial ATP synthase-adenine nucleotide translocator complex in Leishmania

The ATP synthasome is a macromolecular complex consisting of ATP synthase, adenine nucleotide translocator and phosphate carrier. To determine if this complex is evolutionary old or young, we searched for its presence in Leishmania, a mitochondria containing protozoan which evolved from the main eukaryote line soon after eukaryotes split from prokaryotes. Sucrose gradient centrifugation showed that the distribution of ANT among the fractions coincided with the distribution of ATP synthase. In addition, ATP synthase co-precipitated with FLAG tagged and wild type adenine nucleotide translocator isolated with anti FLAG and anti adenine nucleotide translocator antibodies, respectively. These data indicate that the adenine nucleotide translocator interacted with the ATP synthase to form a stable structure referred to as the ATP synthasome. The presence of the ATP synthasome in Leishmania, an organism branching off the main line of eukaryotes early in the development of eukaryotes, as well as in higher eukaryotes suggests that the ATP synthasome is a phylogenetically ancient structure.

The relationships between the isoelectric point and: length of proteins, taxonomy and ecology of organisms

Background

The distribution of isoelectric point (pI) of proteins in a proteome is universal for all organisms. It is bimodal dividing the proteome into two sets of acidic and basic proteins. Different species however have different abundance of acidic and basic proteins that may be correlated with taxonomy, subcellular localization, ecological niche of organisms and proteome size.

Results

We have analysed 1784 proteomes encoded by chromosomes of Archaea, Bacteria, Eukaryota, and also mitochondria, plastids, prokaryotic plasmids, phages and viruses. We have found significant correlation in more than 95% of proteomes between the protein length and pI in proteomes – positive for acidic proteins and negative for the basic ones. Plastids, viruses and plasmids encode more basic proteomes while chromosomes of Archaea, Bacteria, Eukaryota, mitochondria and phages more acidic ones. Mitochondrial proteomes of Viridiplantae, Protista and Fungi are more basic than Metazoa. It results from the presence of basic proteins in the former proteomes and their absence from the latter ones and is related with reduction of metazoan genomes. Significant correlation was found between the pI bias of proteomes encoded by prokaryotic chromosomes and proteomes encoded by plasmids but there is no correlation between eukaryotic nuclear-coded proteomes and proteomes encoded by organelles. Detailed analyses of prokaryotic proteomes showed significant relationships between pI distribution and habitat, relation to the host cell and salinity of the environment, but no significant correlation with oxygen and temperature requirements. The salinity is positively correlated with acidicity of proteomes. Host-associated organisms and especially intracellular species have more basic proteomes than free-living ones. The higher rate of mutations accumulation in the intracellular parasites and endosymbionts is responsible for the basicity of their tiny proteomes that explains the observed positive correlation between the decrease of genome size and the increase of basicity of proteomes. The results indicate that even conserved proteins subjected to strong selectional constraints follow the global trend in the pI distribution.

Conclusion

The distribution of pI of proteins in proteomes shows clear relationships with length of proteins, subcellular localization, taxonomy and ecology of organisms. The distribution is also strongly affected by mutational pressure especially in intracellular organisms.

EFL GTPase in cryptomonads and the distribution of EFL and EF-1alpha in chromalveolates

EFL (EF-like protein) is a member of the GTPase superfamily that includes several translation factors. Because it has only been found in a few eukaryotic lineages and its presence correlates with the absence of the related core translation factor EF-1alpha, its distribution is hypothesized to be the result of lateral gene transfer and replacement of EF-1alpha. In one supergroup of eukaryotes, the chromalveolates, two major lineages were found to contain EFL (dinoflagellates and haptophytes), while the others encode EF-1alpha (apicomplexans, ciliates, heterokonts and cryptomonads). For each of these groups, this distribution was deduced from whole genome sequence or expressed sequence tag (EST) data from several species, with the exception of cryptomonads from which only a single EF-1alpha PCR product from one species was known. By sequencing ESTs from two cryptomonads, Guillardia theta and Rhodomonas salina, and searching for all GTPase translation factors, we revealed that EFL is present in both species, but, contrary to expectations, we found EF-1alpha in neither. On balance, we suggest the previously reported EF-1alpha from Rhodomonas salina is likely an artefact of contamination. We also identified EFL in EST data from two members of the dinoflagellate lineage, Karlodinium micrum and Oxyrrhis marina, and from an ongoing genomic sequence project from a third, Perkinsus marinus. Karlodinium micrum is a symbiotic pairing of two lineages that would have both had EFL (a dinoflagellate and a haptophyte), but only the dinoflagellate gene remains. Oxyrrhis marina and Perkinsus marinus are early diverging sister-groups to dinoflagellates, and together show that EFL originated early in this lineage. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that these genes are all EFL homologues, and showed that cryptomonad genes are not detectably related to EFL from other chromalveolates, which collectively form several distinct groups. The known distribution of EFL now includes a third group of chromalveolates, cryptomonads. Of the six major subgroups of chromalveolates, EFL is found in half and EF-1alpha in the other half, and none as yet unambiguously possess both genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicates EFL likely arose early within each subgroup where it is found, but suggests it may have originated multiple times within chromalveolates as a whole.

Patterns of protein evolution in Tetrahymena thermophila: implications for estimates of effective population size

High levels of synonymous substitutions among alleles of the surface antigen SerH led to the hypothesis that Tetrahymena thermophila has a tremendously large effective population size, one that is greater than estimated for many prokaryotes (Lynch, M., and J. S. Conery. 2003. Science 302:1401-1404.). Here we show that SerH is unusual as there are substantially lower levels of synonymous variation at five additional loci (four nuclear and one mitochondrial) characterized from T. thermophila populations. Hence, the effective population size of T. thermophila, a model single-celled eukaryote, is lower and more consistent with estimates from other microbial eukaryotes. Moreover, reanalysis of SerH polymorphism data indicates that this protein evolves through a combination of vertical transmission of alleles and concerted evolution of repeat units within alleles. SerH may be under balancing selection due to a mechanism analogous to the maintenance of antigenic variation in vertebrate immune systems. Finally, the dual nature of ciliate genomes and particularly the amitotic divisions of processed macronuclear genomes may make it difficult to estimate accurately effective population size from synonymous polymorphisms. This is because selection and drift operate on processed chromosomes in macronuclei, where assortment of alleles, disruption of linkage groups, and recombination can alter the genetic landscape relative to more canonical eukaryotic genomes.

The complete set of ribosomal proteins from the marine sponge Suberites domuncula

The siliceous marine sponge Suberites domuncula is a member of the most ancient and simplest extant phylum of multicellular animals-Porifera, which have branched off first from the common ancestor of all Metazoa. We have determined primary structures of 79 ribosomal proteins (r-proteins) from S. domuncula: 32 proteins from the small ribosomal subunit and 47 proteins from the large ribosomal subunit. Only L39 and L41 polypeptides (51 and 25 residues long in rat, respectively) are missing. The sponge S. domuncula is, after nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and insect Drosophila melanogaster the third representative of invertebrates with known amino acid sequences of all r-proteins. The comparison of S. domuncula r-proteins with r-proteins from D. melanogaster, C. elegans, rat, Arabidopsis thaliana and Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed very interesting findings. The majority of the sponge r-proteins are more similar to their homologues from rat, than to those either from invertebrates C. elegans and D. melanogaster, or yeast and plant. With few exceptions, the overall sequence conservation between sponge and rat r-proteins is 80% or higher. The phylogenetic tree of concatenated r-proteins from 6 eukaryotic species (rooted with archaeal r-proteins) has the shortest branches connecting sponge and rat. Both model invertebrate organisms experienced recently accelerated evolution and therefore sponge r-proteins very probably better reflect structures of proteins in the ancestral metazoan ribosome, which changed only little during metazoan evolution. Furthermore, r-proteins from the plant A. thaliana are significantly closer to metazoan r-proteins than are those from the yeast S. cerevisiae.

The protistan origins of animals and fungi

Recent molecular studies suggest that Opisthokonta, the eukaryotic supergroup including animals and fungi, should be expanded to include a diverse collection of primitively single-celled eukaryotes previously classified as Protozoa. These taxa include corallochytreans, nucleariids, ministeriids, choanoflagellates, and ichthyosporeans. Assignment of many of these taxa to Opisthokonta remains uncorroborated as it is based solely on small subunit ribosomal RNA trees lacking resolution and significant bootstrap support for critical nodes. Therefore, important details of the phylogenetic relationships of these putative opisthokonts with each other and with animals and fungi remain unclear. We have sequenced elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1alpha), actin, beta-tubulin, and HSP70, and/or alpha-tubulin from representatives of each of the proposed protistan opisthokont lineages, constituting the first protein-coding gene data for some of them. Our results show that members of all opisthokont protist groups encode a approximately 12-amino acid insertion in EF-1alpha, previously found exclusively in animals and fungi. Phylogenetic analyses of combined multigene data sets including a diverse set of opisthokont and nonopisthokont taxa place all of the proposed opisthokont protists unequivocally in an exclusive clade with animals and fungi. Within this clade, the nucleariid appears as the closest sister taxon to fungi, while the corallochytrean and ichthyosporean form a group which, together with the ministeriid and choanoflagellates, form two to three separate sister lineages to animals. These results further establish Opisthokonta as a bona fide taxonomic group and suggest that any further testing of the legitimacy of this taxon should, at the least, include data from opisthokont protists. Our results also underline the critical position of these "animal-fungal allies" with respect to the origin and early evolution of animals and fungi.

Emerging genomic and proteomic evidence on relationships among the animal, plant and fungal kingdoms

Sequence-based molecular phylogenies have provided new models of early eukaryotic evolution. This includes the widely accepted hypothesis that animals are related most closely to fungi, and that the two should be grouped together as the Opisthokonta. Although most published phylogenies have supported an opisthokont relationship, a number of genes contain a tree-building signal that clusters animal and green plant sequences, to the exclusion of fungi. The alternative tree-building signal is especially intriguing in light of emerging data from genomic and proteomic studies that indicate striking and potentially synapomorphic similarities between plants and animals. This paper reviews these new lines of evidence, which have yet to be incorporated into models of broad scale eukaryotic evolution.

Heterogeneity of intron presence or absence in rDNA genes of the lichen species Physcia aipolia and P. stellaris

Intron origin and evolution are of high interest, yet the rates of insertion and loss are unclear. To investigate their spread, we studied ribosomal (r)DNA introns from the closely related lichens Physcia aipolia and P. stellaris. Both taxa are replete with rDNA spliceosomal introns and autocatalytic group I introns, many of which show presence/absence polymorphism when screened with the PCR approach. This initially suggested that Physcia could be a model for studying intron retention and loss. However, during the course of a population-level analysis, we discovered widespread intron presence/absence heterogeneity within lichen thalli. To address this result, we sequenced multiple clones encoding nuclear rDNA and the single-copy elongation factor-1alpha (EF-1alpha) from individual thalli. These data showed extensive rDNA heterogeneity within individuals, rather than the presence of multiple fungi within a thallus. Our results suggest that considerable care must be taken when interpreting intron presence/absence in lichen rDNA, an observation that has general implications for the study of rDNA intron evolution.

Secondary metabolites of slime molds (myxomycetes)

The compounds reported from the slime molds (myxomycetes) species are described. Almost 100 natural compounds including their chemical structures and biological activities are described in this review article. Only metabolites with a well-defined structure are included.

The evolution of Ca2+ signalling in photosynthetic eukaryotes

It is likely that cytosolic Ca2+ elevations have played a part in eukaryotic signal transduction for about the last 2 Gyr, being mediated by a group of molecules which are collectively known as the [Ca2+]cyt signalling toolkit. Different eukaryotes often display strikingly similar [Ca2+]cyt signalling elevations, which may reflect conservation of toolkit components (homology) or similar constraints acting on different toolkits (homoplasy). Certain toolkit components, which are presumably ancestral, are shared by plants and animals, but some components are unique to photosynthetic organisms. We propose that the structure of modern plant [Ca2+]cyt signalling toolkits may be explained by their modular adaptation from earlier pathways.

The Opisthokonta and the Ecdysozoa May Not Be Clades: Stronger Support for the Grouping of Plant and Animal than for Animal and Fungi and Stronger Support for the Coelomata than Ecdysozoa

In considering the best possible solutions for answering phylogenetic questions from genomic sequences, we have chosen a strategy that we suggest is superior to others that have gone previously. We have ignored multigene families and instead have used single-gene families. This minimizes the inadvertent analysis of paralogs. We have employed strict data controls and have reasoned that if a protein is not capable of recovering the uncontroversial parts of a phylogenetic tree, then why should we use it for the more controversial parts? We have sliced and diced the data in as many ways as possible in order to uncover the signals in that data. Using this strategy, we have tested two controversial hypotheses concerning eukaryotic phylogenetic relationships: the placement of arthropoda and nematodes and the relationships of animals, plants, and fungi. We have constructed phylogenetic trees from 780 single-gene families from 10 completed genomes and amalgamated these into a single supertree. We have also carried out a total evidence analysis on the only universally distributed protein families that can accurately reconstruct the uncontroversial parts of the phylogenetic tree: a total of five families. In doing so, we ignore the majority of single-gene families that are universally distributed as they do not have the appropriate signals to recover the uncontroversial parts of the tree. We have also ignored every protein that has ever been used previously to address this issue, simply because none of them meet our strict criteria. Using these data controls, site stripping, and multiple analyses, 24 out of 26 analyses strongly support the grouping of vertebrates with arthropods (Coelomata hypothesis) and plants with animals. In the other two analyses, the data were ambivalent. The latter finding overturns an 11-year theory of Eukaryotic evolution; the first confirms what has already been said by others. In the light of this new tree, we re-analyze the evolution of intron gain and loss in the rpL14 gene and find that it is much more compatible with the hypothesis presented here than with the Opisthokonta hypothesis.

Inferring species phylogenies from multiple genes: Concatenated sequence tree versus consensus gene tree

Phylogenetic trees from multiple genes can be obtained in two fundamentally different ways. In one, gene sequences are concatenated into a super-gene alignment, which is then analyzed to generate the species tree. In the other, phylogenies are inferred separately from each gene, and a consensus of these gene phylogenies is used to represent the species tree. Here, we have compared these two approaches by means of computer simulation, using 448 parameter sets, including evolutionary rate, sequence length, base composition, and transition/transversion rate bias. In these simulations, we emphasized a worst-case scenario analysis in which 100 replicate datasets for each evolutionary parameter set (gene) were generated, and the replicate dataset that produced a tree topology showing the largest number of phylogenetic errors was selected to represent that parameter set. Both randomly selected and worst-case replicates were utilized to compare the consensus and concatenation approaches primarily using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method. We find that the concatenation approach yields more accurate trees, even when the sequences concatenated have evolved with very different substitution patterns and no attempts are made to accommodate these differences while inferring phylogenies. These results appear to hold true for parsimony and likelihood methods as well. The concatenation approach shows >95% accuracy with only 10 genes. However, this gain in accuracy is sometimes accompanied by reinforcement of certain systematic biases, resulting in spuriously high bootstrap support for incorrect partitions, whether we employ site, gene, or a combined bootstrap resampling approach. Therefore, it will be prudent to report the number of individual genes supporting an inferred clade in the concatenated sequence tree, in addition to the bootstrap support.

Phylogenetic Comparison of the Myxosporea Based on an Actin cDNA Isolated from Myxobolus cerebralis

The full-length actin gene from Myxobolus cerebralis (McerAct-1), the first characterized from representatives in the phylum Myxozoa, encodes a 378-amino acid polypeptide with an estimated molecular weight of 41,580-Da. A phylogenetic comparison found M. cerebralis to branch outside the metazoans. This finding contrasts with previous reports that suggest an evolutionary affinity of the Myxozoa with either the Bilateria or Cnidaria.

The unicellular ancestry of animal development

The transition to multicellularity that launched the evolution of animals from protozoa marks one of the most pivotal, and poorly understood, events in life's history. Advances in phylogenetics and comparative genomics, and particularly the study of choanoflagellates, are yielding new insights into the biology of the unicellular progenitors of animals. Signaling and adhesion gene families critical for animal development (including receptor tyrosine kinases and cadherins) evolved in protozoa before the origin of animals. Innovations in transcriptional regulation and expansions of certain gene families may have allowed the integration of cell behavior during the earliest experiments with multicellularity. The protozoan perspective on animal origins promises to provide a valuable window into the distant past and into the cellular bases of animal development.

Diversity and evolutionary history of plastids and their hosts

By synthesizing data from individual gene phylogenies, large concatenated gene trees, and other kinds of molecular, morphological, and biochemical markers, we begin to see the broad outlines of a global phylogenetic tree of eukaryotes. This tree is apparently composed of five large assemblages, or "supergroups." Plants and algae, or more generally eukaryotes with plastids (the photosynthetic organelle of plants and algae and their nonphotosynthetic derivatives) are scattered among four of the five supergroups. This is because plastids have had a complex evolutionary history involving several endosymbiotic events that have led to their transmission from one group to another. Here, the history of the plastid and of its various hosts is reviewed with particular attention to the number and nature of the endosymbiotic events that led to the current distribution of plastids. There is accumulating evidence to support a single primary origin of plastids from a cyanobacterium (with one intriguing possible exception in the little-studied amoeba Paulinella), followed by the diversification of glaucophytes, red and green algae, with plants evolving from green algae. Following this, some of these algae were themselves involved in secondary endosymbiotic events. The best current evidence indicates that two independent secondary endosymbioses involving green algae gave rise to euglenids and chlorarachniophytes, whereas a single endosymbiosis with a red algae gave rise to the chromalveolates, a diverse group including cryptomonads, haptophytes, heterokonts, and alveolates. Dinoflagellates (alveolates) have since taken up other algae in serial secondary and tertiary endosymbioses, raising a number of controversies over the origin of their plastids, and by extension, the recently discovered cryptic plastid of the closely related apicomplexan parasites.