Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Pluripotency and the origin of animal multicellularity

Shunsuke Sogabe, William Hatleberg, Kevin Kocot, Tahsha Say, Daniel Stoupin, Kathrein Roper, Selene Fernandez-Valverde, Sandie Degnan, Bernard Degnan
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/564518
Shunsuke Sogabe
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
William Hatleberg
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kevin Kocot
University of Alabama
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Tahsha Say
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Daniel Stoupin
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kathrein Roper
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Selene Fernandez-Valverde
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sandie Degnan
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Bernard Degnan
University of Queensland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: b.degnan@uq.edu.au
  • Abstract
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

The most widely held, but rarely tested, hypothesis for the origin of animals is that they evolved from a unicellular ancestor with an apical cilium surrounded by a microvillar collar that structurally resembled present-day sponge choanocytes and choanoflagellates1,2,3,4. Here we test this traditional view of the origin of the animal kingdom by comparing the transcriptomes, fates and behaviours of the three primary sponge cell types, choanocytes, pluripotent mesenchymal archeocytes and epithelial pinacocytes, with choanoflagellates and other unicellular holozoans. Unexpectedly, we find the transcriptome of sponge choanocytes is the least similar to the transcriptomes of choanoflagellates and is significantly enriched in genes unique to either animals or to sponges alone. In contrast, pluripotent archeocytes upregulate genes controlling cell proliferation and gene expression, as in other metazoan stem cells and in the proliferating stages of two closely-related unicellular holozoans, including a colonial choanoflagellate. In the context of the body plan of the sponge, Amphimedon queenslandica, we show that choanocytes appear late in development and are the result of a transdifferentiation event. They exist in a metastable state and readily transdifferentiate into archeocytes, which can differentiate into a range of other cell types. These sponge cell type conversions are similar to the temporal cell state changes that occur in many unicellular holozoans5. Together, these analyses offer no support for the homology of sponge choanocytes and choanoflagellates, nor for the view that the first multicellular animals were simple balls of cells with limited capacity to differentiate. Instead, our results are consistent with the first animal cell being able to transition between multiple states in a manner similar to modern transdifferentiating and stem cells.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted March 01, 2019.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Pluripotency and the origin of animal multicellularity
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
Share
Pluripotency and the origin of animal multicellularity
Shunsuke Sogabe, William Hatleberg, Kevin Kocot, Tahsha Say, Daniel Stoupin, Kathrein Roper, Selene Fernandez-Valverde, Sandie Degnan, Bernard Degnan
bioRxiv 564518; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/564518
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Pluripotency and the origin of animal multicellularity
Shunsuke Sogabe, William Hatleberg, Kevin Kocot, Tahsha Say, Daniel Stoupin, Kathrein Roper, Selene Fernandez-Valverde, Sandie Degnan, Bernard Degnan
bioRxiv 564518; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/564518

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Evolutionary Biology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (1540)
  • Biochemistry (2499)
  • Bioengineering (1756)
  • Bioinformatics (9720)
  • Biophysics (3927)
  • Cancer Biology (2990)
  • Cell Biology (4230)
  • Clinical Trials (135)
  • Developmental Biology (2651)
  • Ecology (4124)
  • Epidemiology (2033)
  • Evolutionary Biology (6930)
  • Genetics (5239)
  • Genomics (6531)
  • Immunology (2205)
  • Microbiology (7004)
  • Molecular Biology (2780)
  • Neuroscience (17399)
  • Paleontology (127)
  • Pathology (432)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (712)
  • Physiology (1067)
  • Plant Biology (2514)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (646)
  • Synthetic Biology (835)
  • Systems Biology (2698)
  • Zoology (438)