Molecular and Functional Convergences Associated with Complex Multicellularity in Eukarya.

ABSTRACT: A key trait of Eukarya is the independent evolution of complex multicellularity in animals, land plants, fungi, brown algae, and red algae. This phenotype is characterized by the initial exaptation of cell-cell adhesion genes followed by the emergence of mechanisms for cell-cell communication, together with the expansion of transcription factor gene families responsible for cell and tissue identity. The number of cell types is commonly used as a quantitative proxy for biological complexity in comparative genomics studies. While expansions of individual gene families have been associated with variations in the number of cell types within individual complex multicellular lineages, the molecular and functional roles responsible for the independent evolution of complex multicellular across Euk

SUBMITTER: Pereira Lobo F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11827588 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature