Experimental evolution of multicellularity via cuboidal cell packing in fission yeast.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of multicellularity represents a major transition in life's history, enabling the rise of complex organisms. Multicellular groups can evolve through multiple developmental modes, but a common step is the formation of permanent cell-cell attachments after division. The characteristics of the multicellular morphology that emerges have profound consequences for the subsequent evolution of a nascent multicellular lineage, but little prior work has investigated these dynamics directly. Here, we examine a widespread yet understudied emergent multicellular morphology: cuboidal packing. Extinct and extant multicellular organisms across the tree of life have evolved to form groups in which spherical cells divide but remain attached, forming approximately cubic subunits. To experimenta

SUBMITTER: Pineau RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11827335 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature