Transcriptional chronology reveals conserved genes involved in pennate diatom sexual reproduction.

Sexual reproduction is a major driver of adaptation and speciation in eukaryotes. In diatoms, siliceous microalgae with a unique cell size reduction-restitution life cycle and among the world's most prolific primary producers, sex also acts as the main mechanism for cell size restoration through the formation of an expanding auxospore. However, the molecular regulators of the different stages of sexual reproduction and size restoration are poorly explored. Here, we combined RNA sequencing with the assembly of a 55 Mbp reference genome for Cylindrotheca closterium to identify patterns of gene expression during different stages of sexual reproduction. These were compared with a corresponding transcriptomic time series of Seminavis robusta to assess the degree of expression conservation. Integrative orthology analysis revealed 138 one-to-one orthologues that are upregulated during sex in both species, among which 56 genes consistently upregulated during cell pairing and gametogenesis, and 11 genes induced when auxospores are present. Several early, sex-specific transcription factors and B-type cyclins were also upregulated during sex in other pennate and centric diatoms, pointing towards a conserved core regulatory machinery for meiosis and gametogenesis across diatoms. Furthermore, we find molecular evidence that the pheromone-induced cell cycle arrest is short-lived in benthic diatoms, which may be linked to their active mode of mate finding through gliding. Finally, we exploit the temporal resolution of our comparative analysis to report the first marker genes for auxospore identity called AAE1-3 ("Auxospore-Associated Expression"). Altogether, we introduce a multi-species model of the transcriptional dynamics during size restoration in diatoms and highlight conserved gene expression dynamics during different stages of sexual reproduction.

bHLH-PAS protein RITMO1 regulates diel biological rhythms in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

Periodic light-dark cycles govern the timing of basic biological processes in organisms inhabiting land as well as the sea, where life evolved. Although prominent marine phytoplanktonic organisms such as diatoms show robust diel rhythms, the mechanisms regulating these processes are still obscure. By characterizing a Phaeodactylum tricornutum bHLH-PAS nuclear protein, hereby named RITMO1, we shed light on the regulation of the daily life of diatoms. Alteration of RITMO1 expression levels and timing by ectopic overexpression results in lines with deregulated diurnal gene expression profiles compared with the wild-type cells. Reduced gene expression oscillations are also observed in these lines in continuous darkness, showing that the regulation of rhythmicity by RITMO1 is not directly dependent on light inputs. We also describe strong diurnal rhythms of cellular fluorescence in wild-type cells, which persist in continuous light conditions, indicating the existence of an endogenous circadian clock in diatoms. The altered rhythmicity observed in RITMO1 overexpression lines in continuous light supports the involvement of this protein in circadian rhythm regulation. Phylogenetic analysis reveals a wide distribution of RITMO1-like proteins in the genomes of diatoms as well as in other marine algae, which may indicate a common function in these phototrophs. This study adds elements to our understanding of diatom biology and offers perspectives to elucidate timekeeping mechanisms in marine organisms belonging to a major, but under-investigated, branch of the tree of life.

Development and evolution of gut structures: from molecules to function.

The emergence of a specialized system for food digestion and nutrient absorption was a crucial innovation for multicellular organisms. Digestive systems with different levels of complexity evolved in different animals, with the endoderm-derived one-way gut of most bilaterians to be the prevailing and more specialized form. While the molecular events regulating the early phases of embryonic tissue specification have been deeply investigated in animals occupying different phylogenetic positions, the mechanisms underlying gut patterning and gut-associated structures differentiation are still mostly obscure. In this review, we describe the main discoveries in gut and gut-associated structures development in echinoderm larvae (mainly for sea urchin and, when available, for sea star) and compare them with existing information in vertebrates. An impressive degree of conservation emerges when comparing the transcription factor toolkits recruited for gut cells and tissue differentiation in animals as diverse as echinoderms and vertebrates, thus suggesting that their function emerged in the deuterostome ancestor.

A dynamic regulatory network explains ParaHox gene control of gut patterning in the sea urchin.

The anteroposterior patterning of the embryonic gut represents one of the most intriguing biological processes in development. A dynamic control of gene transcription regulation and cell movement is perfectly orchestrated to shape a functional gut in distinct specialized parts. Two ParaHox genes, Xlox and Cdx, play key roles in vertebrate and sea urchin gut patterning through molecular mechanisms that are still mostly unclear. Here, we have combined functional analysis methodologies with high-resolution imaging and RNA-seq to investigate Xlox and Cdx regulation and function. We reveal part of the regulatory machinery responsible for the onset of Xlox and Cdx transcription, uncover a Wnt10 signal that mediates Xlox repression in the intestinal cells, and provide evidence of Xlox- and Cdx-mediated control of stomach and intestine differentiation, respectively. Our findings offer a novel mechanistic explanation of how the control of transcription is linked to cell differentiation and morphogenesis for the development of a perfectly organized biological system such as the sea urchin larval gut.

Multisignal control of expression of the LHCX protein family in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

Diatoms are phytoplanktonic organisms that grow successfully in the ocean where light conditions are highly variable. Studies of the molecular mechanisms of light acclimation in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum show that carotenoid de-epoxidation enzymes and LHCX1, a member of the light-harvesting protein family, both contribute to dissipate excess light energy through non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). In this study, we investigate the role of the other members of the LHCX family in diatom stress responses. Our analysis of available genomic data shows that the presence of multiple LHCX genes is a conserved feature of diatom species living in different ecological niches. Moreover, an analysis of the levels of four P. tricornutum LHCX transcripts in relation to protein expression and photosynthetic activity indicates that LHCXs are differentially regulated under different light intensities and nutrient starvation, mostly modulating NPQ capacity. We conclude that multiple abiotic stress signals converge to regulate the LHCX content of cells, providing a way to fine-tune light harvesting and photoprotection. Moreover, our data indicate that the expansion of the LHCX gene family reflects functional diversification of its members which could benefit cells responding to highly variable ocean environments.

Pattern and process during sea urchin gut morphogenesis: the regulatory landscape.

The development of the endoderm is a multistage process. From the initial specification of the endodermal domain in the embryo to the final regionalization of the gut, there are multiple stages that require the involvement of complex gene regulatory networks. In one concrete case, the sea urchin embryo, some of these stages and their genetic control are (relatively) well understood. Several studies have underscored the relevance of individual transcription factor activities in the process, but very few have focused the attention on gene interactions within specific gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Sea urchins offer an ideal system to study the different factors involved in the morphogenesis of the gut. Here we review the knowledge gained over the last 10 years on the process and its regulation, from the early specification of endodermal lineages to the late events linked to the patterning of functional domains in the gut. A lesson of remarkable importance has been learnt from comparison of the mechanisms involved in gut formation in different bilaterian animals; some of these genetic mechanisms are particularly well conserved. Patterning the gut seems to involve common molecular players and shared interactions, whether we look at mammals or echinoderms. This astounding degree of conservation reveals some key aspects of deep homology that are most probably shared by all bilaterian guts.

Intact cluster and chordate-like expression of ParaHox genes in a sea star.

BACKGROUND: The ParaHox genes are thought to be major players in patterning the gut of several bilaterian taxa. Though this is a fundamental role that these transcription factors play, their activities are not limited to the endoderm and extend to both ectodermal and mesodermal tissues. Three genes compose the ParaHox group: Gsx, Xlox and Cdx. In some taxa (mostly chordates but to some degree also in protostomes) the three genes are arranged into a genomic cluster, in a similar fashion to what has been shown for the better-known Hox genes. Sea urchins possess the full complement of ParaHox genes but they are all dispersed throughout the genome, an arrangement that, perhaps, represented the primitive condition for all echinoderms. In order to understand the evolutionary history of this group of genes we cloned and characterized all ParaHox genes, studied their expression patterns and identified their genomic loci in a member of an earlier branching group of echinoderms, the asteroid Patiria miniata. RESULTS: We identified the three ParaHox orthologs in the genome of P. miniata. While one of them, PmGsx is provided as maternal message, with no zygotic activation afterwards, the other two, PmLox and PmCdx are expressed during embryogenesis, within restricted domains of both endoderm and ectoderm. Screening of a Patiria bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library led to the identification of a clone containing the three genes. The transcriptional directions of PmGsx and PmLox are opposed to that of the PmCdx gene within the cluster. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of P. miniata ParaHox genes has revealed the fact that these genes are clustered in the genome, in contrast to what has been reported for echinoids. Since the presence of an intact cluster, or at least a partial cluster, has been reported in chordates and polychaetes respectively, it becomes clear that within echinoderms, sea urchins have modified the original bilaterian arrangement. Moreover, the sea star ParaHox domains of expression show chordate-like features not found in the sea urchin, confirming that the dynamics of gene expression for the respective genes and their putative regulatory interactions have clearly changed over evolutionary time within the echinoid lineage.

Sea cucumbers: an emerging system in evo-devo.

A challenge for evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) biology is to expand the breadth of research organisms used to investigate how animal diversity has evolved through changes in embryonic development. New experimental systems should couple a relevant phylogenetic position with available molecular tools and genomic resources. As a phylum of the sister group to chordates, echinoderms extensively contributed to our knowledge of embryonic patterning, organ development and cell-type evolution. Echinoderms display a variety of larval forms with diverse shapes, making them a suitable group to compare the evolution of embryonic developmental strategies. However, because of the laboratory accessibility and the already available techniques, most studies focus on sea urchins and sea stars mainly. As a comparative approach, the field would benefit from including information on other members of this group, like the sea cucumbers (holothuroids), for which little is known on the molecular basis of their development. Here, we review the spawning and culture methods, the available morphological and molecular information, and the current state of genomic and transcriptomic resources on sea cucumbers. With the goal of making this system accessible to the broader community, we discuss how sea cucumber embryos and larvae can be a powerful system to address the open questions in evo-devo, including understanding the origins of bilaterian structures.

Identification of an intact ParaHox cluster with temporal colinearity but altered spatial colinearity in the hemichordate Ptychodera flava.

BACKGROUND: ParaHox and Hox genes are thought to have evolved from a common ancestral ProtoHox cluster or from tandem duplication prior to the divergence of cnidarians and bilaterians. Similar to Hox clusters, chordate ParaHox genes including Gsx, Xlox, and Cdx, are clustered and their expression exhibits temporal and spatial colinearity. In non-chordate animals, however, studies on the genomic organization of ParaHox genes are limited to only a few animal taxa. Hemichordates, such as the Enteropneust acorn worms, have been used to gain insights into the origins of chordate characters. In this study, we investigated the genomic organization and expression of ParaHox genes in the indirect developing hemichordate acorn worm Ptychodera flava. RESULTS: We found that P. flava contains an intact ParaHox cluster with a similar arrangement to that of chordates. The temporal expression order of the P. flava ParaHox genes is the same as that of the chordate ParaHox genes. During embryogenesis, the spatial expression pattern of PfCdx in the posterior endoderm represents a conserved feature similar to the expression of its orthologs in other animals. On the other hand, PfXlox and PfGsx show a novel expression pattern in the blastopore. Nevertheless, during metamorphosis, PfXlox and PfCdx are expressed in the endoderm in a spatially staggered pattern similar to the situation in chordates. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that P. flava ParaHox genes, despite forming an intact cluster, exhibit temporal colinearity but lose spatial colinearity during embryogenesis. During metamorphosis, partial spatial colinearity is retained in the transforming larva. These results strongly suggest that intact ParaHox gene clustering was retained in the deuterostome ancestor and is correlated with temporal colinearity.

Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Molecular Profile of Go-Opsin Photoreceptor Cells in Sea Urchin Larvae.

The ability to perceive and respond to light stimuli is fundamental not only for spatial vision but also to many other light-mediated interactions with the environment. In animals, light perception is performed by specific cells known as photoreceptors and, at molecular level, by a group of GPCRs known as opsins. Sea urchin larvae possess a group of photoreceptor cells (PRCs) deploying a Go-Opsin (Opsin3.2) which have been shown to share transcription factors and morphology with PRCs of the ciliary type, raising new questions related to how this sea urchin larva PRC is specified and whether it shares a common ancestor with ciliary PRCs or it if evolved independently through convergent evolution. To answer these questions, we combined immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization to investigate how the Opsin3.2 PRCs develop in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus larva. Subsequently, we applied single-cell transcriptomics to investigate the molecular signature of the Sp-Opsin3.2-expressing cells and show that they deploy an ancient regulatory program responsible for photoreceptors specification. Finally, we also discuss the possible functions of the Opsin3.2-positive cells based on their molecular fingerprint, and we suggest that they are involved in a variety of signaling pathways, including those entailing the thyrotropin-releasing hormone.

Trade-off between sex and growth in diatoms: Molecular mechanisms and demographic implications.

Diatoms are fast-growing and winning competitors in aquatic environments, possibly due to optimized growth performance. However, their life cycles are complex, heteromorphic, and not fully understood. Here, we report on the fine control of cell growth and physiology during the sexual phase of the marine diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata. We found that mating, under nutrient replete conditions, induces a prolonged growth arrest in parental cells. Transcriptomic analyses revealed down-regulation of genes related to major metabolic functions from the early phases of mating. Single-cell photophysiology also pinpointed an inhibition of photosynthesis and storage lipids accumulated in the arrested population, especially in gametes and zygotes. Numerical simulations revealed that growth arrest affects the balance between parental cells and their siblings, possibly favoring the new generation. Thus, in addition to resources availability, life cycle traits contribute to shaping the species ecological niches and must be considered to describe and understand the structure of plankton communities.

An optimised method for intact nuclei isolation from diatoms.

Due to their abundance in the oceans, their extraordinary biodiversity and the increasing use for biotech applications, the study of diatom biology is receiving more and more attention in the recent years. One of the limitations in developing molecular tools for diatoms lies in the peculiar nature of their cell wall, that is made of silica and organic molecules and that hinders the application of standard methods for cell lysis required, for example, to extract organelles. In this study we present a protocol for intact nuclei isolation from diatoms that was successfully applied to three different species: two pennates, Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata and Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and one centric diatom species, Chaetoceros diadema. Intact nuclei were extracted by treatment with acidified NH4F solution combined to low intensity sonication pulses and separated from cell debris via FAC-sorting upon incubation with SYBR Green. Microscopy observations confirmed the integrity of isolated nuclei and high sensitivity DNA electrophoresis showed that genomic DNA extracted from isolated nuclei has low degree of fragmentation. This protocol has proved to be a flexible and versatile method to obtain intact nuclei preparations from different diatom species and it has the potential to speed up applications such as epigenetic explorations as well as single cell ("single nuclei") genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics in different diatom species.

Marine diatoms change their gene expression profile when exposed to microscale turbulence under nutrient replete conditions.

Diatoms are a fundamental microalgal phylum that thrives in turbulent environments. Despite several experimental and numerical studies, if and how diatoms may profit from turbulence is still an open question. One of the leading arguments is that turbulence favours nutrient uptake. Morphological features, such as the absence of flagella, the presence of a rigid exoskeleton and the micrometre size would support the possible passive but beneficial role of turbulence on diatoms. We demonstrate that in fact diatoms actively respond to turbulence in non-limiting nutrient conditions. TURBOGEN, a prototypic instrument to generate natural levels of microscale turbulence, was used to expose diatoms to the mechanical stimulus. Differential expression analyses, coupled with microscopy inspections, enabled us to study the morphological and transcriptional response of Chaetoceros decipiens to turbulence. Our target species responds to turbulence by activating energy storage pathways like fatty acid biosynthesis and by modifying its cell chain spectrum. Two other ecologically important species were examined and the occurrence of a morphological response was confirmed. These results challenge the view of phytoplankton as unsophisticated passive organisms.

Echinoderm systems for gene regulatory studies in evolution and development.

One of the main challenges in Evolutionary Developmental Biology is to understand to which extent developmental changes are driven by regulatory alterations in the genomic sequence. In the recent years, the focus of comparative developmental studies has moved towards a systems biology approach providing a better understanding of the evolution of gene interactions that form the so called Gene Regulatory Networks (GRN). Echinoderms provide a powerful system to reveal regulatory mechanisms and within the past decade, due to the latest technological innovations, a great number of studies have provided valuable information for comparative GRN analyses. In this review we describe recent advances in evolution of GRNs arising from echinoderm systems, focusing on the properties of conserved regulatory kernels, circuit co-option events and GRN topological rearrangements.

The upstream regulatory sequence of the light harvesting complex Lhcf2 gene of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum enhances transcription in an orientation- and distance-independent fashion.

Diatoms are a key phytoplankton group in the contemporary ocean, showing extraordinary adaptation capacities to rapidly changing environments. The recent availability of whole genome sequences from representative species has revealed distinct features in their genomes, like novel combinations of genes encoding distinct metabolisms and a significant number of diatom-specific genes. However, the regulatory mechanisms driving diatom gene expression are still largely uncharacterized. Considering the wide variety of fields of study orbiting diatoms, ranging from ecology, evolutionary biology to biotechnology, it is thus essential to increase our understanding of fundamental gene regulatory processes such as transcriptional regulation. To this aim, we explored the functional properties of the 5'-flanking region of the Phaeodatylum tricornutum Lhcf2 gene, encoding a member of the Light Harvesting Complex superfamily and we showed that this region enhances transcription of a GUS reporter gene in an orientation- and distance-independent fashion. This represents the first example of a cis-regulatory sequence with enhancer-like features discovered in diatoms and it is instrumental for the generation of novel genetic tools and diatom exploitation in different areas of study.

Dealing with light: the widespread and multitasking cryptochrome/photolyase family in photosynthetic organisms.

Light is essential for the life of photosynthetic organisms as it is a source of energy and information from the environment. Light excess or limitation can be a cause of stress however. Photosynthetic organisms exhibit sophisticated mechanisms to adjust their physiology and growth to the local environmental light conditions. The cryptochrome/photolyase family (CPF) is composed of flavoproteins with similar structures that display a variety of light-dependent functions. This family encompasses photolyases, blue-light activated enzymes that repair ultraviolet-light induced DNA damage, and cryptochromes, known for their photoreceptor functions in terrestrial plants. For this review, we searched extensively for CPFs in the available genome databases to trace the distribution and evolution of this protein family in photosynthetic organisms. By merging molecular data with current knowledge from the functional characterization of CPFs from terrestrial and aquatic organisms, we discuss their roles in (i) photoperception, (ii) biological rhythm regulation and (iii) light-induced stress responses. We also explore their possible implication in light-related physiological acclimation and their distribution in phototrophs living in different environments. The outcome of this structure-function analysis reconstructs the complex scenarios in which CPFs have evolved, as highlighted by the novel functions and biochemical properties of the most recently described family members in algae.