Evolution of size and pattern in the social amoebas

Schaap, Pauline

doi:10.1002/bies.20599

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This slug can migrate for several days before forming a fruiting body complete with a cellular stock and environment-resistant spores (32). During the multicellular slug-stage, the selective pressure to avoid parasitic exploitation is increased (33).…”

Section: Phylogenetic Origins Of Macrophage Killing Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Cell-Autonomous Effector Mechanisms in Macrophages versus Non-Immune Cells

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Specialized adaptations for killing microbes is synonymous with phagocytic cells including macrophages, monocytes, inflammatory neutrophils and eosinophils. Recent genome sequencing of extant species, however, reveals analogous antimicrobial machineries exist in certain non-immune cells and also within species that ostensibly lack a well-defined immune system. Here we probe the evolutionary record for clues about the ancient and diverse phylogenetic origins of macrophage killing mechanisms and how some of their properties are shared with cells outside the traditional bounds of immunity in higher vertebrates such as mammals.

show abstract

Section: Phylogenetic Origins Of Macrophage Killing Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Cell-Autonomous Effector Mechanisms in Macrophages versus Non-Immune Cells

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1D). Guided by signals, such as light and warmth, the slug migrates to the top layer of the soil, where it proceeds to build the Schaap, 2007(Schaap, 2007.…”

Section: From Unicellular Amoeba To Fruiting Bodymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary crossroads in developmental biology: Dictyostelium discoideum

Schaap

2011

Development

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryDictyostelium discoideum belongs to a group of multicellular life forms that can also exist for long periods as single cells. This ability to shift between uni-and multicellularity makes the group ideal for studying the genetic changes that occurred at the crossroads between uni-and multicellular life. In this Primer, I discuss the mechanisms that control multicellular development in Dictyostelium discoideum and reconstruct how some of these mechanisms evolved from a stress response in the unicellular ancestor.Key words: Evolution of multicellularity, Social amoeba, Encystation, Sporulation, Dictyostelium IntroductionThe social amoebas, or Dictyostelia, are a group of organisms that become multicellular by aggregation and then proceed to build fruiting bodies that consist of stalk cells and spores (see Glossary, Box 1). This developmental cycle is a response to starvation, and involves both highly coordinated cell movement and a tightly controlled programme of cell differentiation. Social amoebas belong to the supergroup of Amoebozoa (see Glossary, Box 1), a sister group to the clade of Opisthokonts (see Glossary, Box 1), which contains the animals and fungi. All supergroups contain unicellular protist-like organisms (see Glossary, Box 1) and, in several groups, multicellular life forms have evolved independently (Minge et al., 2009).The Amoebozoa supergroup consists mainly of unicellular amoeba-like organisms that have a simple life cycle. The feeding amoeba or trophozoite turns into a dormant cyst when faced with food shortage, drought or other life-threatening circumstances (Cavalier-Smith et al., 2004). Several clades of Amoebozoa have given rise to protostelid-like organisms (see Glossary, Box 1), which form a very simple fruiting body (see Glossary, Box 1) that consists of a single spore that sits on a simple stalk made by the same cell (Shadwick et al., 2009). However, only the Dictyostelia are able to form multicellular fruiting bodies that contain up to a million cells (Fig. 1).There are ~120 known species of Dictyostelia and a molecular phylogeny has been constructed to reveal the order in which they evolved (Schaap et al., 2006). The phylogeny subdivides species into four major groups (Fig. 2), with the model social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum belonging to the most recently diverged group 4. Many species in groups 1-3 can still encyst as single cells when conditions are unfavourable for aggregation. However, group 4 species have lost the ability to encyst. Strikingly, all group 4 species tested secrete cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) to act as a chemoattractant for aggregation. This is most unusual, because almost all other organisms only use cAMP inside the cell to transduce the effect of other secreted stimuli, such as hormones, mating factors and neurotransmitters. None of the species in groups 1-3 uses cAMP for aggregation; some use glorin, a modified dipeptide of glutamate and ornithine, whereas others use folic acid, pterin or other as yet unidentified chemoattractants (Schaap e...

show abstract

“…This would lead to more reproductive spores, which would go unaccounted in our experimental setup. This could be a recent adaptation as only five species of Dictyostelium have been found to show stalkless migration: D. discoideum, D. citrinum, D. intermedium, D. dimigraformum, and D. polycephalum, representing two origins of the trait, since the first four species are each other's closest relatives, and are separated from D. polycephalum by many stalked migrating species (BONNER 1982;SCHAAP 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Cost of movement in the multicellular stage of the social amoebaeDictyostelium discoideumandD. purpureum

Jack

Adu-Oppong

Powers

et al. 2011

Ethology Ecology & Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

One of the challenges of microbial life is that the best location for feeding and growth may not be the best location for dispersal. This is likely to be the case for the social amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum and Dictyostelium purpureum that feed on soil bacteria in the amoeba stage, but then group into a multicellular slug that moves towards light before forming a fruiting body. Here we examine this short-range social dispersal in the social amoebae, Dictyostelium discoideum and D. purpureum. We predicted D. purpureum would have higher migration costs and travel less far because it forms a dead stalk from living cells as it moves, while D. discoideum delays stalk formation until movement ceases. We found that D. purpureum migrated shorter distances than D. discoideum, in accord with our prediction. D. discoideum slugs moved an average of 2.46 ± 0.19 cm while D. purpureum slugs moved an average of 1.04 ± 0.06 cm. In both species, migration incurred a cost in reduced spore production, compared to experimental conditions where slugs did not migrate. D. discoideum under the no migration treatment produced 0.55± 0.05 spores per cell and under the migration treatment produced 0.25 ± 0.04 spores per cell. D. purpureum under the no migration treatment produced 1.01± 0.06 spores per cell and under the migration treatment produced 0.85 ± 0.06 spores per cell. We also found that D. discoideum produced fruiting bodies with fewer spores after migrating while D. purpureum did not. It appears that the evolutionary loss of stalked migration gives D. discoideum cells the advantage of delaying specialization and the ability to colonize more distant locations, but has significant costs due to migration distance, such as the fraction of cells that become fertile spores.

show abstract

Evolution of size and pattern in the social amoebas

Cited by 30 publications

References 52 publications

Evolution of Cell-Autonomous Effector Mechanisms in Macrophages versus Non-Immune Cells

Evolution of Cell-Autonomous Effector Mechanisms in Macrophages versus Non-Immune Cells

Evolutionary crossroads in developmental biology: Dictyostelium discoideum

Cost of movement in the multicellular stage of the social amoebaeDictyostelium discoideumandD. purpureum

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About