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Schumann I, Kenny N, Hui J, Hering L, Mayer G. Halloween genes in panarthropods and the evolution of the early moulting pathway in Ecdysozoa. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:180888. [PMID: 30839709 PMCID: PMC6170570 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Moulting is a characteristic feature of Ecdysozoa-the clade of moulting animals that includes the hyperdiverse arthropods and less speciose groups, such as onychophorans, tardigrades and nematodes. Moulting has been best analysed in arthropods, specifically in insects and crustaceans, in which a complex neuroendocrine system acts at the genomic level and initiates the transcription of genes responsible for moulting. The key moulting hormones, ecdysone and 20-hydroxyecdysone, are subsequently synthesized from cholesterol ingested with food. Their biosynthesis is regulated by the Rieske-domain protein Neverland and cytochrome P450 enzymes encoded by the so-called 'Halloween' genes. Ecdysone is then released into the haemolymph and modified into 20-hydroxyecdysone, which binds to the nuclear receptor EcR/USP and initiates transcription of the Early genes. As little is known about the moulting pathway of other ecdysozoans, we examined the occurrence of genes involved in ecdysteroid biosynthesis and the early moulting cascade across ecdysozoan subgroups. Genomic and transcriptomic searches revealed no Halloween genes in cycloneuralians, whereas only shadow (CYP315A1) is present in onychophorans and tardigrades, suggesting that the Halloween genes evolved stepwise in panarthropods. These findings imply that the genes which were responsible for the ecdysteroid biosynthesis in the last common ancestor of Ecdysozoa are currently unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabell Schumann
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
- Molecular Evolution and Animal Systematics, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nathan Kenny
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, Center of Soybean Research, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Jerome Hui
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, Center of Soybean Research, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Lars Hering
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
| | - Georg Mayer
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
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Abstract
The field of microbiology has experienced significant growth due to transformative advances in technology and the influx of scientists driven by a curiosity to understand how microbes sustain myriad biochemical processes that maintain Earth. With this explosion in scientific output, a significant bottleneck has been the ability to rapidly disseminate new knowledge to peers and the public. Preprints have emerged as a tool that a growing number of microbiologists are using to overcome this bottleneck. Posting preprints can help to transparently recruit a more diverse pool of reviewers prior to submitting to a journal for formal peer review. Although the use of preprints is still limited in the biological sciences, early indications are that preprints are a robust tool that can complement and enhance peer-reviewed publications. As publishing moves to embrace advances in Internet technology, there are many opportunities for preprints and peer-reviewed journals to coexist in the same ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick D Schloss
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Levin M, Anavy L, Cole AG, Winter E, Mostov N, Khair S, Senderovich N, Kovalev E, Silver DH, Feder M, Fernandez-Valverde SL, Nakanishi N, Simmons D, Simakov O, Larsson T, Liu SY, Jerafi-Vider A, Yaniv K, Ryan JF, Martindale MQ, Rink JC, Arendt D, Degnan SM, Degnan BM, Hashimshony T, Yanai I. The mid-developmental transition and the evolution of animal body plans. Nature 2016; 531:637-641. [PMID: 26886793 PMCID: PMC4817236 DOI: 10.1038/nature16994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2015] [Accepted: 01/12/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Animals are grouped into ~35 'phyla' based upon the notion of distinct body plans. Morphological and molecular analyses have revealed that a stage in the middle of development--known as the phylotypic period--is conserved among species within some phyla. Although these analyses provide evidence for their existence, phyla have also been criticized as lacking an objective definition, and consequently based on arbitrary groupings of animals. Here we compare the developmental transcriptomes of ten species, each annotated to a different phylum, with a wide range of life histories and embryonic forms. We find that in all ten species, development comprises the coupling of early and late phases of conserved gene expression. These phases are linked by a divergent 'mid-developmental transition' that uses species-specific suites of signalling pathways and transcription factors. This mid-developmental transition overlaps with the phylotypic period that has been defined previously for three of the ten phyla, suggesting that transcriptional circuits and signalling mechanisms active during this transition are crucial for defining the phyletic body plan and that the mid-developmental transition may be used to define phylotypic periods in other phyla. Placing these observations alongside the reported conservation of mid-development within phyla, we propose that a phylum may be defined as a collection of species whose gene expression at the mid-developmental transition is both highly conserved among them, yet divergent relative to other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Levin
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Leon Anavy
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Alison G Cole
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Eitan Winter
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Natalia Mostov
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Sally Khair
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Naftalie Senderovich
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Ekaterina Kovalev
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - David H Silver
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Martin Feder
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | | | - Nagayasu Nakanishi
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - David Simmons
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, 9505 N Ocean Shore Blvd, St Augustine, Florida 32080-8610 USA
| | - Oleg Simakov
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tomas Larsson
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Shang-Yun Liu
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Ayelet Jerafi-Vider
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Karina Yaniv
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Joseph F Ryan
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, 9505 N Ocean Shore Blvd, St Augustine, Florida 32080-8610 USA
| | - Mark Q Martindale
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, 9505 N Ocean Shore Blvd, St Augustine, Florida 32080-8610 USA
| | - Jochen C Rink
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Detlev Arendt
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sandie M Degnan
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Bernard M Degnan
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Tamar Hashimshony
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Itai Yanai
- Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
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Hering L, Bouameur JE, Reichelt J, Magin TM, Mayer G. Novel origin of lamin-derived cytoplasmic intermediate filaments in tardigrades. eLife 2016; 5:e11117. [PMID: 26840051 PMCID: PMC4829535 DOI: 10.7554/elife.11117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2015] [Accepted: 02/02/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Intermediate filament (IF) proteins, including nuclear lamins and cytoplasmic IF proteins, are essential cytoskeletal components of bilaterian cells. Despite their important role in protecting tissues against mechanical force, no cytoplasmic IF proteins have been convincingly identified in arthropods. Here we show that the ancestral cytoplasmic IF protein gene was lost in the entire panarthropod (onychophoran + tardigrade + arthropod) rather than arthropod lineage and that nuclear, lamin-derived proteins instead acquired new cytoplasmic roles at least three times independently in collembolans, copepods, and tardigrades. Transcriptomic and genomic data revealed three IF protein genes in the tardigrade Hypsibius dujardini, one of which (cytotardin) occurs exclusively in the cytoplasm of epidermal and foregut epithelia, where it forms belt-like filaments around each epithelial cell. These results suggest that a lamin derivative has been co-opted to enhance tissue stability in tardigrades, a function otherwise served by cytoplasmic IF proteins in all other bilaterians. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.11117.001 Different proteins exist to support the stability of animal cells. The intermediate filament proteins are an important example. One type – called lamins – stabilizes the nucleus (the structure within an animal cell that stores most of its DNA), while another forms scaffold-like structures in the rest of cell. The second type, referred to as “cytoplasmic” intermediate filaments, are not found in many hard-bodied creatures including insects and their closest relatives. This is probably because these animals, which are collectively known as arthropods, are instead supported by their tough external skeleton. The soft-bodied animals called tardigrades (also known as water bears or moss piglets) are closely related to the arthropods. These microscopic animals can endure extreme environmental conditions such as freezing. The tardigrade’s endurance is likely to require some way to stabilize the animal’s cells. This might involve cytoplasmic intermediate filaments, but nothing was known about these proteins in tardigrades. Now, Hering, Bouameur, Reichelt et al. have investigated if, and where, intermediate filaments are found in the cells of tardigrades. First, the complete set of active genes was analyzed for a species of tardigrade called Hypsibius dujardini; this revealed that three genes for intermediate filament proteins were active. Staining tissue slices or whole tardigrades with a marker that binds to intermediate filament proteins revealed that two of the three proteins were lamins and located within the nucleus. The third protein, which has been named "cytotardin", was found outside of the nucleus. However, unlike well-known cytoplasmic intermediate filaments, this protein did not form scaffold-like structures throughout the cell. Instead, cytotardin formed belt-like filaments that encircled each cell in the skin of the tardigrades. Hering, Bouameur, Reichelt et al. then discovered that cytotardin seems to be more closely related to lamins than it is to cytoplasmic intermediate filaments. This suggests that cytotardin actually evolved from a tardigrade lamin and then acquired a new role in building filaments outside of the nucleus. The fact that cytotardin is only found in the skin of the tardigrade and in those tissues that experience mechanical stress (for example, the mouth and legs) hints that it might help stabilize these cells. This could mean that the protein also helps these animals to resist extreme conditions. Further studies should focus on clarifying cytotardin’s role in stabilizing cells, in particular if it is required for the tardigrades' tolerance to environmental stress. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.11117.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars Hering
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany.,Animal Evolution and Development, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jamal-Eddine Bouameur
- Institute of Biology and Translational Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Julian Reichelt
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
| | - Thomas M Magin
- Institute of Biology and Translational Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Georg Mayer
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany.,Animal Evolution and Development, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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