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Inherency of Form and Function in Animal Development and Evolution.

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  • 1Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, United States.

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Summary

Animal development integrates morphology and cell diversity through physical forces and conserved cellular functions. This scenario explains how primitive multicellular organisms evolved complex body plans from simpler ancestors.

Keywords:
biogenericcell differentiationmorphogenesispattern formationphase transitionreaction-diffusionself-organization

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental biology
  • Evolutionary developmental biology
  • Cell biology

Background:

  • Metazoa (animals) exhibit complex morphology and diverse cell types.
  • These traits are integrated into developmental programs.
  • Understanding their origins is key to evolutionary biology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Propose a scenario for the integration of morphology and cell-type diversification in Metazoa.
  • Explain the role of cellular pattern formation in this integration.
  • Connect these processes to developmental programs in extant animals.

Main Methods:

  • Discuss recent work on the origins of animal morphology and cell-type diversification.
  • Analyze the role of mesoscale cell mass properties in forming structural motifs.
  • Examine the recruitment of physical forces and toolkit molecules.
  • Investigate the conservation and innovation of cellular functions and regulatory mechanisms.

Main Results:

  • Animal structural motifs arise from mesoscale cell mass properties driven by generic physical forces (adhesion, contraction, etc.).
  • Toolkit molecules, partly conserved from unicellular ancestors, were recruited.
  • Specialized cell functions present in unicellular organisms were redeployed in metazoan differentiation.
  • Regulatory mechanisms evolved as hybrids between ancestral processes and innovations like enhancers.
  • Cellular pattern formation, using morphogens and self-organizing processes, transformed cell clusters into embryos and organs.

Conclusions:

  • The integration of morphology and cell-type diversification is explained by the interplay of physical forces, conserved cell functions, and novel regulatory mechanisms.
  • This scenario accounts for the evolution of complex animal body plans from unicellular holozoan ancestors.
  • Cellular pattern formation was crucial for developing embryos and organs from early cell clusters.