Embryogenesis of flattened colonies implies the innovation required for the evolution of spheroidal colonies in volvocine green algae.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Volvocine algae provide a suitable model for investigation of the evolution of multicellular organisms. Within this group, evolution of the body plan from flattened to spheroidal colonies is thought to have occurred independently in two different lineages, Volvocaceae and Astrephomene. Volvocacean species undergo inversion to form a spheroidal cell layer following successive cell divisions during embryogenesis. During inversion, the daughter protoplasts change their shape and develop acute chloroplast ends (opposite to basal bodies). By contrast, Astrephomene does not undergo inversion; rather, its daughter protoplasts rotate during successive cell divisions to form a spheroidal colony. However, the evolutionary pathways of these cellular events involved in the two tacti

SUBMITTER: Yamashita S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6560780 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature