Dataset Information

Characterization of Hydrogen Metabolism in the Multicellular Green Alga Volvox carteri.

ABSTRACT: Hydrogen gas functions as a key component in the metabolism of a wide variety of microorganisms, often acting as either a fermentative end-product or an energy source. The number of organisms reported to utilize hydrogen continues to grow, contributing to and expanding our knowledge of biological hydrogen processes. Here we demonstrate that Volvox carteri f. nagariensis, a multicellular green alga with differentiated cells, evolves H2 both when supplied with an abiotic electron donor and under physiological conditions. The genome of Volvox carteri contains two genes encoding putative [FeFe]-hydrogenases (HYDA1 and HYDA2), and the transcripts for these genes accumulate under anaerobic conditions. The HYDA1 and HYDA2 gene products were cloned, expressed, and purified, and both are functional [FeFe]-hydrogenases. Additionally, within the genome the HYDA1 and HYDA2 genes cluster with two putative genes which encode hydrogenase maturation proteins. This gene cluster resembles operon-like structures found within bacterial genomes and may provide further insight into evolutionary relationships between bacterial and algal [FeFe]-hydrogenase genes.

SUBMITTER: Cornish AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4416025 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Characterization of Hydrogen Metabolism in the Multicellular Green Alga Volvox carteri.

Cornish Adam J AJ Green Robin R Gärtner Katrin K Mason Saundra S Hegg Eric L EL

PloS one 20150430 4

Hydrogen gas functions as a key component in the metabolism of a wide variety of microorganisms, often acting as either a fermentative end-product or an energy source. The number of organisms reported to utilize hydrogen continues to grow, contributing to and expanding our knowledge of biological hydrogen processes. Here we demonstrate that Volvox carteri f. nagariensis, a multicellular green alga with differentiated cells, evolves H2 both when supplied with an abiotic electron donor and under p ...[more]

PMID: 25927230

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Project description:Germ-soma differentiation is a hallmark of complex multicellular organisms, yet its origins are not well understood. Volvox carteri is a simple multicellular green alga that has recently evolved a simple germ-soma dichotomy with only two cell types: large germ cells called gonidia and small terminally differentiated somatic cells. Here, we provide a comprehensive characterization of the gonidial and somatic transcriptomes of Volvox to uncover fundamental differences between the molecular and metabolic programming of these cell types. We found extensive transcriptome differentiation between cell types, with somatic cells expressing a more specialized program overrepresented in younger, lineage-specific genes and gonidial cells expressing a more generalist program overrepresented in more ancient genes that shared striking overlap with metazoan stem-cell-specific genes. Directed analyses of metabolic pathways revealed a strong dichotomy between cell types with gonidial cells expressing growth-related genes and somatic cells expressing an altruistic metabolic program geared towards the assembly of flagella, which support organismal motility, and the conversion of storage carbon to sugars, which act as donors of extracellular matrix glycoproteins whose secretion enables massive organismal expansion. Volvox orthologs of Chlamydomonas diurnally regulated genes were analyzed for cell-type distribution and found to be strongly partitioned, with expression of dark-phase genes overrepresented in somatic cells and light-phase genes overrepresented in gonidial cells, a result that is consistent with cell type programs in Volvox arising by cooption of temporal regulons in a unicellular ancestor. Together our findings reveal fundamental molecular, metabolic, and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie the origins of germ-soma differentiation in Volvox and provide a template for understanding the acquisition of germ-soma differentiation in other multicellular lineages.

Dataset Information

Characterization of Hydrogen Metabolism in the Multicellular Green Alga Volvox carteri.

Publications

Characterization of Hydrogen Metabolism in the Multicellular Green Alga Volvox carteri.

Similar Datasets

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