Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Animal and Plant Cell Structure01:30

Animal and Plant Cell Structure

29.5K
Animal and plant cells not only differ in their structure, function, and mode of nutrition but also in how they reproduce, specialize, and organize into complex structures.
Cell Division
Though both plant and animal cells divide by mitosis (for non-gametic cells) and meiosis (for gametic cells), they differ in the specifics of this process. Unlike animal cells, plant cells lack centrosomes — an organelle responsible for organizing the spindle fibers and segregating the chromosomes during...
29.5K
Zygotic Development And Stem Cell Formation01:10

Zygotic Development And Stem Cell Formation

5.2K
The development of all multicellular organisms starts with the fusion of haploid cells called sperm and egg to form a diploid zygote. A zygote is a totipotent cell that can develop into a complete organism. The zygote undergoes cell division or cleavage to form an 8-cell mass. Until this stage, the cells are spherical, loosely attached, and remain totipotent. Totipotent cells are capable of developing both the embryonic and the extraembryonic tissues. However, as they continue to divide, they...
5.2K
Notch Signaling Pathway03:14

Notch Signaling Pathway

4.3K
The Notch signaling pathway is a major intracellular signaling pathway that is highly conserved over a broad spectrum of metazoan species. It stands unique from other intracellular signaling mechanisms in animals because notch protein itself acts as the receptor as well as the primary signaling molecule.
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not...
4.3K
Cellular Differentiation00:57

Cellular Differentiation

2.7K
How does a complex organism such as a human develop from a single cell? It all starts from a single fertilized egg which gives rise to a vast array of cell types, such as nerve cells, muscle cells, and epithelial cells that characterize the adult? Throughout development and adulthood, cellular differentiation leads cells to assume their final morphology and physiology. Differentiation is the process by which unspecialized cells become specialized to carry out distinct functions.
A zygote is a...
2.7K
Morphogenesis02:19

Morphogenesis

28.2K
Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.
28.2K
Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming01:24

Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming

1.8K
Nuclear reprogramming is a process of transforming one cell type into an unrelated cell type by epigenetic changes that alter the cell’s original gene expression pattern. Such epigenetic changes force cells to express a different set of genes, which play a significant role in inducing transformation into other cell types. Nuclear reprogramming offers applications in reproductive cloning for livestock propagation and regenerative medicine — developing patient-specific cells for...
1.8K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

How social is social resistance?

Essays in biochemistry·2026
Same author

An insect that cooperates like bacteria.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Studying adaptation at the invisible scale.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Behavioural ecology in the twenty-first century.

Nature ecology & evolution·2025
Same author

Global hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are poorly protected.

Nature·2025
Same author

Cryptic infection of a giant virus in a unicellular green alga.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025
Same journal

Chronic limb loading results in remarkable load carriage economy in growing fowl.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026
Same journal

Motion-from-structure in face perception: expectations of natural face motion depend on face shape.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026
Same journal

Unification and generalization of models of zygote survival.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026
Same journal

Phenological type- and diameter-dependent effects of individual light availability and interannual climate variation on tree growth.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026
Same journal

Interaction range of common goods shapes Black Queen dynamics beyond the cheater-cooperator narrative.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026
Same journal

Stingray spine diversity reflects performance trade-offs linked to puncture and breakability.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 6, 2025

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System
09:56

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System

Published on: December 23, 2022

1.7K

Conflict-reducing innovations in development enable increased multicellular complexity.

Jack Howe1, Charlie K Cornwallis2, Ashleigh S Griffin3

  • 1Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, Globe Institute, Copenhagen University, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|January 10, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Obligate multicellularity evolved through clonal groups. Early germline segregation, not single-cell bottlenecks, drives increased cell types and complexity in multicellular organisms.

Keywords:
developmentevolutiongermline

More Related Videos

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
07:34

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

Published on: February 16, 2017

7.9K
Simple, Affordable, and Modular Patterning of Cells using DNA
08:59

Simple, Affordable, and Modular Patterning of Cells using DNA

Published on: February 24, 2021

4.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 6, 2025

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System
09:56

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System

Published on: December 23, 2022

1.7K
The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
07:34

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

Published on: February 16, 2017

7.9K
Simple, Affordable, and Modular Patterning of Cells using DNA
08:59

Simple, Affordable, and Modular Patterning of Cells using DNA

Published on: February 24, 2021

4.1K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Obligate multicellularity, where cells only reproduce as part of a group, has evolved independently multiple times.
  • Clonal group formation, not aggregation, is crucial for preventing internal conflict in obligately multicellular organisms.
  • Significant variation exists in multicellular complexity, defined by cell number and cell type diversity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary drivers of variation in multicellular complexity.
  • To test the roles of a single-cell bottleneck and germline-soma separation in promoting complexity.
  • To understand the mechanisms underlying evolutionary innovation in multicellular life.

Main Methods:

  • Phylogenetic comparative analyses were conducted on the life cycles of 129 lineages across plants, animals, fungi, and algae.
  • The study examined the correlation between multicellular complexity (cell number, cell types) and two conflict-suppressing mechanisms.
  • Mechanisms analyzed included a single-cell bottleneck at the start of development and strict germline-somatic cell separation.

Main Results:

  • Early segregation of the germline stem-cell lineage is significantly associated with the evolution of a greater number of cell types.
  • This correlation is particularly strong within the Metazoa (animals).
  • A strict single-cell bottleneck was not directly linked to cell number or cell type diversity but was associated with early germline segregation.

Conclusions:

  • Early germline segregation appears to be a key factor enabling increased evolutionary innovation and multicellular complexity.
  • The findings suggest that germline segregation facilitates greater complexity, potentially through reduced conflict or enhanced developmental flexibility.
  • Further research is needed to distinguish between conflict reduction and other developmental effects driving this evolutionary trend.