Convergent acquisition of non-embryonic development in styelid ascidians
Alié, A.; Hiebert, L.S.; Simion, P.; Scelzo, M.; Prünster, M.M.; Lotito, S.; Delsuc, F.; Douzery, E.J.P.; Dantec, C.; Lemaire, P.; Darras, S.; Kawamura, K.; Brown, F.D.; Tiozzo, S. (2018). Convergent acquisition of non-embryonic development in styelid ascidians. Mol. Biol. Evol. 35(7): 1728-1743. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy068
In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. Oxford University Press: Chicago, Ill.. ISSN 0737-4038; e-ISSN 1537-1719, more
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| Keywords |
Biological phenomena > Regeneration
Polyandrocarpa Michaelsen, 1904 [WoRMS]; Tunicata [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
asexual reproduction, Botryllinae, cross-contamination, tunicate |
| Authors | | Top |
- Alié, A.
- Hiebert, L.S.
- Simion, P.
- Scelzo, M.
- Prünster, M.M.
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- Lotito, S.
- Delsuc, F.
- Douzery, E.J.P.
- Dantec, C.
- Lemaire, P.
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- Darras, S.
- Kawamura, K.
- Brown, F.D.
- Tiozzo, S.
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| Abstract |
Asexual propagation and whole body regeneration are forms of non-embryonic development (NED) widespread across animal phyla and central in life history and evolutionary diversification of metazoans. Whereas it is challenging to reconstruct the gains or losses of NED at large phylogenetic scale, comparative studies could benefit from being conducted at more restricted taxonomic scale, in groups for which phylogenetic relationships are well established. The ascidian family of Styelidae encompasses strictly sexually reproducing solitary forms as well as colonial species that combine sexual reproduction with different forms of NED. To date, the phylogenetic relationships between colonial and solitary styelids remain controversial and so is the pattern of NED evolution. In this study, we built an original pipeline to combine 8 genomes with 18 de novo assembled transcriptomes and constructed datasets of unambiguously orthologous genes. Using a phylogenomic super-matrix of 4,908 genes from these 26 tunicates we provided a robust phylogeny of this family of chordates, which supports two convergent acquisitions of NED. This result prompted us to further describe the budding process in the species Polyandrocarpa zorritensis, leading to the discovery of a novel mechanism of asexual development. While the pipeline and the datasets produced can be used for further phylogenetic reconstructions in tunicates, the phylogeny provided here sets an evolutionary framework for future experimental studies on the emergence and disappearance of complex characters such as asexual propagation and whole body regeneration. |
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