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Innovation and constraint leading to complex multicellularity in the Ascomycota
Tu Anh Nguyen1, Ousmane H Cissé2, Jie Yun Wong1
1Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and Department of Biological Sciences, The National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604, Singapore.
Nature Communications
|February 9, 2017
Summary
Complex multicellularity (CM) in fungi is ancient, originating deep within the Ascomycota. Gene analysis reveals conserved functions related to cell organization, suggesting a deterministic evolutionary path.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Mycology
- Genomics
Background:
- Complex multicellularity (CM) is a key evolutionary innovation in eukaryotes.
- In fungi, CM evolved within the Ascomycota, primarily in the Pezizomycotina, based on hyphal filaments.
- The genus Neolecta presents an evolutionary enigma, exhibiting Pezizomycotina-like CM despite its phylogenetic placement among yeasts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic basis of complex multicellularity (CM) in the enigmatic fungal genus Neolecta.
- To identify genes associated with CM by comparing Neolecta irregularis with related yeast species.
- To understand the deep evolutionary roots of fungal multicellularity within the Ascomycota.
Main Methods:
- Genome sequencing of Neolecta irregularis.
- Comparative genomics to identify conserved genes between Neolecta and Pezizomycotina, absent in yeasts.
- Functional genomics to pinpoint genes involved in fungal complexification.
Main Results:
- A conserved set of 1,050 genes associated with CM was identified, enriched for endomembrane system functions.
- Most of these genes showed evidence of divergence in both budding and fission yeasts.
- New genes implicated in fungal complexification were discovered through functional genomics.
Conclusions:
- Rudimentary multicellularity is deeply conserved within the fungal Ascomycota.
- Gene divergence during simplification and constraints leading to CM suggest a deterministic evolutionary process.
- Shared cellular organization modes likely selected for similar organelle and transport machinery during fungal CM evolution.
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