Cnidarian Cell Type Diversity and Regulation Revealed by Whole-Organism Single-Cell RNA-Seq.
Cell
; 173(6): 1520-1534.e20, 2018 05 31.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29856957
ABSTRACT
The emergence and diversification of cell types is a leading factor in animal evolution. So far, systematic characterization of the gene regulatory programs associated with cell type specificity was limited to few cell types and few species. Here, we perform whole-organism single-cell transcriptomics to map adult and larval cell types in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis, a non-bilaterian animal with complex tissue-level body-plan organization. We uncover eight broad cell classes in Nematostella, including neurons, cnidocytes, and digestive cells. Each class comprises different subtypes defined by the expression of multiple specific markers. In particular, we characterize a surprisingly diverse repertoire of neurons, which comparative analysis suggests are the result of lineage-specific diversification. By integrating transcription factor expression, chromatin profiling, and sequence motif analysis, we identify the regulatory codes that underlie Nematostella cell-specific expression. Our study reveals cnidarian cell type complexity and provides insights into the evolution of animal cell-specific genomic regulation.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Sea Anemones
/
RNA
/
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
/
Neurons
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Cell
Year:
2018
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Israel