Tracing the evolutionary history of blood cells to the unicellular ancestor of animals.

Blood cells are thought to have emerged as phagocytes in the common ancestor of animals followed by the appearance of novel blood cell lineages such as thrombocytes, erythrocytes, and lymphocytes, during evolution. However, this speculation is not based on genetic evidence and it is still possible to argue that phagocytes in different species have different origins. It also remains to be clarified how the initial blood cells evolved; whether ancient animals have solely developed de novo programs for phagocytes or they have inherited a key program from ancestral unicellular organisms. Here, we traced the evolutionary history of blood cells, and cross-species comparison of gene expression profiles revealed that phagocytes in various animal species and Capsaspora (C.) owczarzaki, a unicellular organism, are transcriptionally similar to each other. We also found that both phagocytes and C. owczarzaki share a common phagocytic program, and that CEBPα is the sole transcription factor highly expressed in both phagocytes and C. owczarzaki. We further showed that the function of CEBPα to drive phagocyte program in nonphagocytic blood cells has been conserved in tunicate, sponge, and C. owczarzaki. We finally showed that, in murine hematopoiesis, repression of CEBPα to maintain nonphagocytic lineages is commonly achieved by polycomb complexes. These findings indicate that the initial blood cells emerged inheriting a unicellular organism program driven by CEBPα and that the program has also been seamlessly inherited in phagocytes of various animal species throughout evolution.

Transfection of Capsaspora owczarzaki, a close unicellular relative of animals.

How animals emerged from their unicellular ancestor remains a major evolutionary question. New genome data from the closest unicellular relatives of animals have provided important insights into the evolution of animal multicellularity. We know that the unicellular ancestor of animals had an unexpectedly complex genetic repertoire, including many genes that are key to animal development and multicellularity. Thus, assessing the function of these genes among unicellular relatives of animals is key to understanding how they were co-opted at the onset of the Metazoa. However, such analyses have been hampered by the lack of genetic tools. Progress has been made in choanoflagellates and teretosporeans, two of the three lineages closely related to animals, whereas no tools are yet available for functional analysis in the third lineage: the filastereans. Importantly, filastereans have a striking repertoire of genes involved in transcriptional regulation and other developmental processes. Here, we describe a reliable transfection method for the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki We also provide a set of constructs for visualising subcellular structures in live cells. These tools convert Capsaspora into a unique experimentally tractable organism to use to investigate the origin and evolution of animal multicellularity.

Extreme genome diversity in the hyper-prevalent parasitic eukaryote Blastocystis.

Blastocystis is the most prevalent eukaryotic microbe colonizing the human gut, infecting approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide. Although Blastocystis has been linked to intestinal disorders, its pathogenicity remains controversial because most carriers are asymptomatic. Here, the genome sequence of Blastocystis subtype (ST) 1 is presented and compared to previously published sequences for ST4 and ST7. Despite a conserved core of genes, there is unexpected diversity between these STs in terms of their genome sizes, guanine-cytosine (GC) content, intron numbers, and gene content. ST1 has 6,544 protein-coding genes, which is several hundred more than reported for ST4 and ST7. The percentage of proteins unique to each ST ranges from 6.2% to 20.5%, greatly exceeding the differences observed within parasite genera. Orthologous proteins also display extreme divergence in amino acid sequence identity between STs (i.e., 59%-61% median identity), on par with observations of the most distantly related species pairs of parasite genera. The STs also display substantial variation in gene family distributions and sizes, especially for protein kinase and protease gene families, which could reflect differences in virulence. It remains to be seen to what extent these inter-ST differences persist at the intra-ST level. A full 26% of genes in ST1 have stop codons that are created on the mRNA level by a novel polyadenylation mechanism found only in Blastocystis. Reconstructions of pathways and organellar systems revealed that ST1 has a relatively complete membrane-trafficking system and a near-complete meiotic toolkit, possibly indicating a sexual cycle. Unlike some intestinal protistan parasites, Blastocystis ST1 has near-complete de novo pyrimidine, purine, and thiamine biosynthesis pathways and is unique amongst studied stramenopiles in being able to metabolize α-glucans rather than ß-glucans. It lacks all genes encoding heme-containing cytochrome P450 proteins. Predictions of the mitochondrion-related organelle (MRO) proteome reveal an expanded repertoire of functions, including lipid, cofactor, and vitamin biosynthesis, as well as proteins that may be involved in regulating mitochondrial morphology and MRO/endoplasmic reticulum (ER) interactions. In sharp contrast, genes for peroxisome-associated functions are absent, suggesting Blastocystis STs lack this organelle. Overall, this study provides an important window into the biology of Blastocystis, showcasing significant differences between STs that can guide future experimental investigations into differences in their virulence and clarifying the roles of these organisms in gut health and disease.

Revision of the Capsaspora genome using read mating information adjusts the view on premetazoan genome.

The genome sequences of unicellular holozoans, the closest relatives to animals, are shedding light on the evolution of animal multicellularity, shaping the genetic contents of the putative premetazoans. However, the assembly quality of the genomes remains poor compared to the major model organisms such as human and fly. Improving the assembly is critical for precise comparative genomics studies and further molecular biological studies requiring accurate sequence information such as enhancer analysis and genome editing. In this report, we present a new strategy to improve the assembly by fully exploiting the information of Illumina mate-pair reads. By visualizing the distance and orientation of the mapped read pairs, we could highlight the regions where possible assembly errors exist in the genome sequence of Capsaspora, a lineage of unicellular holozoans. Manual modification of these errors repaired 590 assembly problems in total and reassembled 84 supercontigs into 55. Our telomere prediction analysis using the read pairs containing the pan-eukaryotic telomere-like sequence identified at least 13 chromosomes. The resulting new assembly posed us a re-annotation of 112 genes, including 15 putative receptor protein tyrosine kinases. Our strategy thus provides a useful approach for improving assemblies of draft genomes, and the new Capsaspora genome offers us an opportunity to adjust the view on the genome of the unicellular animal ancestor.

Radiation-Induced RhoGDIß Cleavage Leads to Perturbation of Cell Polarity: A Possible Link to Cancer Spreading.

The equilibrium between proliferation and apoptosis is tightly balanced to maintain tissue homeostasis in normal tissues and even in tumors. Achieving and maintaining such a balance is important for cancer regrowth and spreading after cytotoxic treatments. Caspase-3 activation and tumor cell death following anticancer therapy as well as accompanying cell death pathways are well characterized, but their association to homeostasis of cancerous tissue and tumor progression remains poorly understood. Here we proposed a novel mechanism of cancer spreading induced by caspase-3. RhoGDIß, known as a direct cleavage substrate of caspase-3, is overexpressed in many epithelial cancers. The N-terminal-truncated RhoGDIß (ΔN-RhoGDIß) is accumulated in caspase-3-activated cells. Stable expression of ΔN-RhoGDIß in HeLa cells did not induce apoptosis, but impaired directional cell migration in a wound-healing assay accompanied by a perturbed direction of cell division at the wound edge. Subcellular protein fractionation experiments revealed that ΔN-RhoGDIß but not wild-type RhoGDIß was present in the detergent-soluble cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions and preferentially associated with Cdc42. Furthermore, Cdc42 activity was constitutively inhibited by stable expression of ΔN-RhoGDIß, resulting in increased radiation-induced compensatory proliferation linking to RhoA activation. Thus, ΔN-RhoGDIß dominant-negatively regulates Cdc42 activity and contributes to loss of polarity-related functions. The caspase-3-cleaved RhoGDIß is a possible determinant to promote cancer spreading due to deregulation of directional organization of tumor cell population and inhibition of default equilibrium between proliferation and apoptosis after cytotoxic damage. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 2493-2505, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Earliest Holozoan expansion of phosphotyrosine signaling.

Phosphotyrosine (pTyr) signaling is involved in development and maintenance of metazoans' multicellular body through cell-to-cell communication. Tyrosine kinases (TKs), tyrosine phosphatases, and other proteins relaying the signal compose the cascade. Domain architectures of the pTyr signaling proteins are diverse in metazoans, reflecting their complex intercellular communication. Previous studies had shown that the metazoan-type TKs, as well as other pTyr signaling proteins, were already diversified in the common ancestor of metazoans, choanoflagellates, and filastereans (which are together included in the clade Holozoa) whereas they are absent in fungi and other nonholozoan lineages. However, the earliest-branching holozoans Ichthyosporea and Corallochytrea, as well as the two fungi-related amoebae Fonticula and Nuclearia, have not been studied. Here, we analyze the complete genome sequences of two ichthyosporeans and Fonticula, and RNAseq data of three additional ichthyosporeans, one corallochytrean, and Nuclearia. Both the ichthyosporean and corallochytrean genomes encode a large variety of receptor TKs (RTKs) and cytoplasmic TKs (CTKs), as well as other pTyr signaling components showing highly complex domain architectures. However, Nuclearia and Fonticula have no TK, and show much less diversity in other pTyr signaling components. The CTK repertoires of both Ichthyosporea and Corallochytrea are similar to those of Metazoa, Choanoflagellida, and Filasterea, but the RTK sets are totally different from each other. The complex pTyr signaling equipped with positive/negative feedback mechanism likely emerged already at an early stage of holozoan evolution, yet keeping a high evolutionary plasticity in extracellular signal reception until the co-option of the system for cell-to-cell communication in metazoans.

Regulation of Src and Csk nonreceptor tyrosine kinases in the filasterean Ministeria vibrans.

The development of the phosphotyrosine-based signaling system predated the evolution of multicellular animals. Single-celled choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives to metazoans, possess numerous tyrosine kinases, including Src family nonreceptor tyrosine kinases. Choanoflagellates also have Csk (C-terminal Src kinase), the enzyme that regulates Src in metazoans; however, choanoflagellate Csk kinases fail to repress the cognate Src. Here, we have cloned and characterized Src and Csk kinases from Ministeria vibrans, a filasterean (the sister group to metazoans and choanoflagellates). The two Src kinases (MvSrc1 and MvSrc2) are enzymatically active Src kinases, although they have low activity toward mammalian cellular proteins. Unexpectedly, MvSrc2 has significant Ser/Thr kinase activity. The Csk homologue (MvCsk) is enzymatically inactive and fails to repress MvSrc activity. We suggest that the low activity of MvCsk is due to sequences in the SH2-kinase interface, and we show that a point mutation in this region partially restores MvCsk activity. The inactivity of filasterean Csk kinases is consistent with a model in which the stringent regulation of Src family kinases arose more recently in evolution, after the split between choanoflagellates and multicellular animals.

Development of ichthyosporeans sheds light on the origin of metazoan multicellularity.

To understand the mechanisms involved in the transition from protists to multicellular animals (metazoans), studying unicellular relatives of metazoans is as important as studying metazoans themselves. However, investigations remain poor on the closest unicellular (or colonial) relatives of Metazoa, i.e., choanoflagellates, filastereans and ichthyosporeans. Molecular-level analyses on these protists have been severely limited by the lack of transgenesis tools. Their genomes, however, contain several key genes encoding proteins important for metazoan development and multicellularity, including those involved in cell-cell communication, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and tissue growth control. Tools to analyze their functions in a molecular level are awaited. Here we report techniques of cell transformation and gene silencing developed for the first time in a close relative of metazoans, the ichthyosporean Creolimax fragrantissima. We propose C. fragrantissima as a model organism to investigate the origin of metazoan multicellularity. By transgenesis, we demonstrate that its colony develops from a fully-grown multinucleate syncytium, in which nuclear divisions are strictly synchronized. It has been hypothesized that metazoan multicellular development initially occurred in the course of evolution through successive rounds of cell division, which were not necessarily be synchronized, or alternatively through cell aggregation. Our findings point to another possible mechanism for the evolution of animal multicellularity, namely, cellularization of a syncytium in which nuclear divisions are synchronized. We believe that further studies on the development of ichthyosporeans by the use of our methodologies will provide novel insights into the origin of metazoan multicellularity.

Ichthyosporea: a window into the origin of animals.

Ichthyosporea is an underexplored group of unicellular eukaryotes closely related to animals. Thanks to their phylogenetic position, genomic content, and development through a multinucleate coenocyte reminiscent of some animal embryos, the members of Ichthyosporea are being increasingly recognized as pivotal to the study of animal origins. We delve into the existing knowledge of Ichthyosporea, identify existing gaps and discuss their life cycles, genomic insights, development, and potential to be model organisms. We also discuss the underestimated diversity of ichthyosporeans, based on new environmental data analyses. This review will be an essential resource for researchers venturing into the study of ichthyosporeans.

DNA methylation enables recurrent endogenization of giant viruses in an animal relative.

5-Methylcytosine (5mC) is a widespread silencing mechanism that controls genomic parasites. In eukaryotes, 5mC has gained complex roles in gene regulation beyond parasite control, yet 5mC has also been lost in many lineages. The causes for 5mC retention and its genomic consequences are still poorly understood. Here, we show that the protist closely related to animals Amoebidium appalachense features both transposon and gene body methylation, a pattern reminiscent of invertebrates and plants. Unexpectedly, hypermethylated genomic regions in Amoebidium derive from viral insertions, including hundreds of endogenized giant viruses, contributing 14% of the proteome. Using a combination of inhibitors and genomic assays, we demonstrate that 5mC silences these giant virus insertions. Moreover, alternative Amoebidium isolates show polymorphic giant virus insertions, highlighting a dynamic process of infection, endogenization, and purging. Our results indicate that 5mC is critical for the controlled coexistence of newly acquired viral DNA into eukaryotic genomes, making Amoebidium a unique model to understand the hybrid origins of eukaryotic DNA.

Flexibly deployed Pax genes in eye development at the early evolution of animals demonstrated by studies on a hydrozoan jellyfish.

Pax transcription factors are involved in a variety of developmental processes in bilaterians, including eye development, a role typically assigned to Pax-6. Although no true Pax-6 gene has been found in nonbilateral animals, some jellyfish have eyes with complex structures. In the cubozoan jellyfish Tripedalia, Pax-B, an ortholog of vertebrate Pax-2/5/8, had been proposed as a regulator of eye development. Here we have isolated three Pax genes (Pax-A, Pax-B, and Pax-E) from Cladonema radiatum, a hydrozoan jellyfish with elaborate eyes. Cladonema Pax-A is strongly expressed in the retina, whereas Pax-B and Pax-E are highly expressed in the manubrium, the feeding and reproductive organ. Misexpression of Cladonema Pax-A induces ectopic eyes in Drosophila imaginal discs, whereas Pax-B and Pax-E do not. Furthermore, Cladonema Pax-A paired domain protein directly binds to the 5' upstream region of eye-specific Cladonema opsin genes, whereas Pax-B does not. Our data suggest that Pax-A, but not Pax-B or Pax-E, is involved in eye development and/or maintenance in Cladonema. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Pax-6, Pax-B, and Pax-A belong to different Pax subfamilies, which diverged at the latest before the Cnidaria-Bilateria separation. We argue that our data, showing the involvement of Pax genes in hydrozoan eye development as in bilaterians, supports the monophyletic evolutionary origin of all animal eyes. We then propose that during the early evolution of animals, distinct classes of Pax genes, which may have played redundant roles at that time, were flexibly deployed for eye development in different animal lineages.

Lack of Csk-mediated negative regulation in a unicellular SRC kinase.

Phosphotyrosine-based signaling plays a vital role in cellular communication in multicellular organisms. Unexpectedly, unicellular choanoflagellates (the closest phylogenetic group to metazoans) possess numbers of tyrosine kinases that are comparable to those in complex metazoans. Here, we have characterized tyrosine kinases from the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki, a unicellular protist representing the sister group to choanoflagellates and metazoans. Two Src-like tyrosine kinases have been identified in C. owczarzaki (CoSrc1 and CoSrc2), both of which have the arrangement of SH3, SH2, and catalytic domains seen in mammalian Src kinases. In Capsaspora cells, CoSrc1 and CoSrc2 localize to punctate structures in filopodia that may represent primordial focal adhesions. We have cloned, expressed, and purified both enzymes. CoSrc1 and CoSrc2 are active tyrosine kinases. Mammalian Src kinases are normally regulated in a reciprocal fashion by autophosphorylation in the activation loop (which increases activity) and by Csk-mediated phosphorylation of the C-terminal tail (which inhibits activity). Similar to mammalian Src kinases, the enzymatic activities of CoSrc1 and CoSrc2 are increased by autophosphorylation in the activation loop. We have identified a Csk-like kinase (CoCsk) in the genome of C. owczarzaki. We cloned, expressed, and purified CoCsk and found that it has no measurable tyrosine kinase activity. Furthermore, CoCsk does not phosphorylate or regulate CoSrc1 or CoSrc2 in cells or in vitro, and CoSrc1 and CoSrc2 are active in Capsaspora cell lysates. Thus, the function of Csk as a negative regulator of Src family kinases appears to have arisen with the emergence of metazoans.

The "eyes absent" (eya) gene in the eye-bearing hydrozoan jellyfish Cladonema radiatum: conservation of the retinal determination network.

Eyes absent (Eya) is a member of the Retinal Determination Gene Network (RDGN), a set of genes responsible for eye specification in Drosophila. Eya is a dual function protein, working as a transcription factor in the nucleus and as a tyrosine phosphatase in the cytoplasm. It had been shown that Pax and Six family genes, main components of the RDGN, are present in the hydrozoan Cladonema radiatum and that they are expressed in the eye. However, nothing had been known about the Eya family in hydrozoan jellyfish. Here we report the presence of an Eya homologue (CrEya) in Cladonema. Real-time PCR analysis and in situ hybridization showed that CrEya is expressed in the eye. Furthermore, the comprehensive survey of eukaryote genomes revealed that the acquisition of the N-terminal transactivation domain, including the EYA Domain 2 and its adjacent sequence shared by all eumetazoans, happened early in evolution, before the separation of Cnidaria and Bilateria. Our results uncover the evolution of the two domains and show a conservation of the expression pattern of the Eya gene between Cnidaria and Bilateria, which, together with previous data, supports the hypothesis of the monophyletic origin of metazoans eyes. We additionally show that CrEya is also expressed in the oocytes, where two other members of the RDGN, CrPaxB, and Six4/5-Cr, are known to be expressed. These data suggest that several members of the RDGN have begun to be localized also into the different context of egg development early in the course of metazoan evolution.

Evolution and functional diversity of jellyfish opsins.

Cnidaria are the most basal animal phylum possessing complex eyes [1]. Their eyes predominantly use ciliary photoreceptor cells (c-PRCs) like vertebrates, whereas insect eyes use rhabdomeric photoreceptor cells (r-PRCs) [1-4]. These two cell types show not only different cytoarchitectures but distinct phototransduction cascades, which are triggered by the respective types of opsins (e.g., [5]), ciliary opsins (c-opsins) and rhabdomeric opsins (r-opsins) [6]. Recent reports suggested that the c- and r-PRCs and their respective opsins diverged at least before the deuterostome-protostome split [7-9]. To study the earlier evolution of animal PRCs and opsins, we investigated two hydrozoan jellyfishes. We report here the first-characterized cnidarian opsins. Molecular phylogeny revealed that the cloned 20 jellyfish opsins, together with all the opsins from a hydra and some from a sea anemone, are more closely related to the c-opsins than to any other major opsin subfamily, indicating that the divergence of c- and r-opsins antedates the Cnidaria-Bilateria split. Possible scenarios of animal PRC evolution are discussed. Furthermore, Cladonema opsins show several distinct tissue- and stage-specific expression patterns. The expression of specific opsins in the eyes suggests a role in vision, whereas that in the gonads suggests a role in light-controlled release of gametes.

Evolution of the MAGUK protein gene family in premetazoan lineages.

BACKGROUND: Cell-to-cell communication is a key process in multicellular organisms. In multicellular animals, scaffolding proteins belonging to the family of membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUK) are involved in the regulation and formation of cell junctions. These MAGUK proteins were believed to be exclusive to Metazoa. However, a MAGUK gene was recently identified in an EST survey of Capsaspora owczarzaki, an unicellular organism that branches off near the metazoan clade. To further investigate the evolutionary history of MAGUK, we have undertook a broader search for this gene family using available genomic sequences of different opisthokont taxa. RESULTS: Our survey and phylogenetic analyses show that MAGUK proteins are present not only in Metazoa, but also in the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and in the protist Capsaspora owczarzaki. However, MAGUKs are absent from fungi, amoebozoans or any other eukaryote. The repertoire of MAGUKs in Placozoa and eumetazoan taxa (Cnidaria + Bilateria) is quite similar, except for one class that is missing in Trichoplax, while Porifera have a simpler MAGUK repertoire. However, Vertebrata have undergone several independent duplications and exhibit two exclusive MAGUK classes. Three different MAGUK types are found in both M. brevicollis and C. owczarzaki: DLG, MPP and MAGI. Furthermore, M. brevicollis has suffered a lineage-specific diversification. CONCLUSIONS: The diversification of the MAGUK protein gene family occurred, most probably, prior to the divergence between Metazoa+choanoflagellates and the Capsaspora+Ministeria clade. A MAGI-like, a DLG-like, and a MPP-like ancestral genes were already present in the unicellular ancestor of Metazoa, and new gene members have been incorporated through metazoan evolution within two major periods, one before the sponge-eumetazoan split and another within the vertebrate lineage. Moreover, choanoflagellates have suffered an independent MAGUK diversification. This study highlights the importance of generating enough genome data from the broadest possible taxonomic sampling, in order to fully understand the evolutionary history of major protein gene families.

Simple and scalable gel-based separation of metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes.

We report a rapid and scalable method for the separation of metallic and semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs); the separation is performed by the selective adsorption of semiconducting SWCNTs on agarose gel. The most effective separation was realized by a simple procedure in which a piece of gel containing SWCNTs and sodium dodecyl sulfate was frozen, thawed, and squeezed. This process affords a solution containing 70% pure metallic SWCNTs and leaves a gel containing 95% pure semiconducting SWCNTs. Field-effect transistors constructed from the separated semiconducting SWCNTs have been demonstrated to function without any electrical breakdown.

The evolutionary history of lysine biosynthesis pathways within eukaryotes.

Lysine biosynthesis occurs in two ways: the diaminopimelate (DAP) pathway and the alpha-aminoadipate (AAA) pathway. The former is present in eubacteria, plants, and algae, whereas the latter was understood to be almost exclusive to fungi. The recent finding of the alpha-aminoadipate reductase (AAR) gene, one of the core genes of the AAA pathway, in the marine protist Corallochytrium limacisporum was, therefore, believed to be a molecular synapomorphy of fungi and C. limacisporum. To test this hypothesis, we undertook a broader search for the AAR gene in eukaryotes, and also analyzed the distribution of the lysA gene, a core gene of the DAP pathway. We show that the evolutionary history of both genes, AAR and lysA, is much more complex than previously believed. Furthermore, the AAR gene is present in several unicellular opisthokonts, thus rebutting the theory that its presence is a molecular synapomorphy between C. limacisporum and fungi. AAR gene seems to be exclusive of Excavata and Unikonts, whereas the lysA gene is present in several unrelated taxa within all major eukaryotic lineages, indicating a role for several lateral gene transfer (LGT) events. Our data imply that the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and the "choanozoan" Capsaspora owczarzaki acquired their lysA copies from a proteobacterial ancestor. Overall, these observations represent new evidence that the role of LGT in the evolutionary history of eukaryotes may have been more significant than previously thought.

Transglutaminase-mediated cross-linking of WDR54 regulates EGF receptor-signaling.

WDR54 is a member of the WD40 repeat (WDR) domain-containing protein family that was recently identified as a novel oncogene in colorectal cancer. However, the molecular mechanism of WDR54 and its functional association with other molecules related to tumor cell growth are unknown. Here, we show that WDR54 can be cross-linked by the action of transglutaminase (TG) 2, which enhances the activation of EGF receptor-mediated signaling pathway. The most carboxyl-terminal WD domain was required for cross-linking. In addition, lysine 280 in WDR54, also in this WD domain, was an important residue for both cross-linking and ubiquitination. Cross-linked WDR54 was found in vesicles aggregated at the plasma membrane. The activated EGF receptor was co-localized with this vesicle, and the internalization of the EGF receptor into the cytosol was sustained. As a result, Erk activity in response to EGF stimulation was enhanced. Furthermore, the growth of the cells lacking WDR54 expression generated by genome editing was delayed compared with that in wild-type cells. Because TG2 is also has been proposed to activate the EGF receptor-signaling and proliferation of tumor cells, WDR54 might have a functional relationship with the EGF receptor and TG2. Our study on the mechanism of biological function of WDR54 may provide rationale for the design and development of a cancer drug based on inhibiting the post-translational modification of this oncogene product.

A unicellular relative of animals generates a layer of polarized cells by actomyosin-dependent cellularization.

In animals, cellularization of a coenocyte is a specialized form of cytokinesis that results in the formation of a polarized epithelium during early embryonic development. It is characterized by coordinated assembly of an actomyosin network, which drives inward membrane invaginations. However, whether coordinated cellularization driven by membrane invagination exists outside animals is not known. To that end, we investigate cellularization in the ichthyosporean Sphaeroforma arctica, a close unicellular relative of animals. We show that the process of cellularization involves coordinated inward plasma membrane invaginations dependent on an actomyosin network and reveal the temporal order of its assembly. This leads to the formation of a polarized layer of cells resembling an epithelium. We show that this stage is associated with tightly regulated transcriptional activation of genes involved in cell adhesion. Hereby we demonstrate the presence of a self-organized, clonally-generated, polarized layer of cells in a unicellular relative of animals.

Ancient divergence of animal protein tyrosine kinase genes demonstrated by a gene family tree including choanoflagellate genes.

Animal-specific gene families involved in cell-cell communication and developmental control comprise many subfamilies with distinct domain structures and functions. They diverged by subfamily-generating duplications and domain shufflings before the parazoan-eumetazoan split. Here, we have cloned 40 PTK cDNAs from choanoflagellates, Monosiga ovata, Stephanoeca diplocostata and Codosiga gracilis, the closest relatives to animals. A phylogeny-based analysis of PTKs revealed that 40 out of 47 subfamilies analyzed have unique domain structures and are possibly generated independently in animal and choanoflagellate lineages by domain shufflings. Seven cytoplasmic subfamilies showed divergence before the animal-choanoflagellate split originated by both duplications and shufflings.