Project description:We assembled de novo transcriptomes for three Antarctic invertebrate species: the limpet Nacella concinna (foot muscle tissue), the amphipod Paracerodocus miersii (body wall tissue) and the urchin Sterechinus neumayeri (coelomic fluid). Individuals (n = 5 per treatment) were sampled following exposure to different rates of warming: 1°C per hour, 1°C per day, 1°C per 3 days, or after acclimation to 2°C for 3 months. For longer term experiments (1°C per day, 1°C per 3 days and acclimation), control animals were sampled at both the start and end of the experiment to identify possible seasonal effects. For the shorter term experiment (1°C per hour) only one set of controls was needed.
Project description:What genomic changes led to the origin of vertebrates remains a mystery. On the one hand, animal evolution is thought to be driven mostly by changes in the cis-regulatory regions of a shared conserved and toolkit of developmental genes. On the other hand, vertebrates experienced two rounds of whole genome duplication (WGD) that increased their gene repertoire, particularly of regulatory genes controlling embryo development. To shed light into the origin and evolution of the vertebrate regulatory genome, we have generated an unprecedented transcriptomic and epigenomic resource for the non-duplicated genome of the European amphioxus, a closely related invertebrate chordate. These data include RNA-seq for more than 35 developmental stages and adult tissues, CAGE-seq, ChIP-seq, bisulphite-seq and ATAC-seq for several developmental stages and adult tissues. By comparing these data sets with equivalent novel and previously available data for various vertebrate species, especially zebrafish, we uncovered multiple conserved and vertebrate-specific regulatory landmarks. We first identify a conserved chordate phylotypic stage, a developmental period in which different chordate species show the highest gene expression similarity. We also shed light on the origin of enhancer demethylation in vertebrates, by identifying, for the first time in an invertebrate species, differentially methylated enhancers. Furthermore, we show that conserved clusters of co-expressed and tissue-specific genes display similar enrichments for cis-regulatory motifs between amphioxus and vertebrates. Finally, we study the impact of vertebrate WGDs on the evolution of gene regulation, providing the first genome-wide quantitative assessment of sub-functionalization and neo-functionalization processes after the vertebrate WGDs; changing the way in which these evolutionary mechanisms have been traditionally understood.
Project description:What genomic changes led to the origin of vertebrates remains a mystery. On the one hand, animal evolution is thought to be driven mostly by changes in the cis-regulatory regions of a shared conserved and toolkit of developmental genes. On the other hand, vertebrates experienced two rounds of whole genome duplication (WGD) that increased their gene repertoire, particularly of regulatory genes controlling embryo development. To shed light into the origin and evolution of the vertebrate regulatory genome, we have generated an unprecedented transcriptomic and epigenomic resource for the non-duplicated genome of the European amphioxus, a closely related invertebrate chordate. These data include RNA-seq for more than 35 developmental stages and adult tissues, CAGE-seq, ChIP-seq, bisulphite-seq and ATAC-seq for several developmental stages and adult tissues. By comparing these data sets with equivalent novel and previously available data for various vertebrate species, especially zebrafish, we uncovered multiple conserved and vertebrate-specific regulatory landmarks. We first identify a conserved chordate phylotypic stage, a developmental period in which different chordate species show the highest gene expression similarity. We also shed light on the origin of enhancer demethylation in vertebrates, by identifying, for the first time in an invertebrate species, differentially methylated enhancers. Furthermore, we show that conserved clusters of co-expressed and tissue-specific genes display similar enrichments for cis-regulatory motifs between amphioxus and vertebrates. Finally, we study the impact of vertebrate WGDs on the evolution of gene regulation, providing the first genome-wide quantitative assessment of sub-functionalization and neo-functionalization processes after the vertebrate WGDs; changing the way in which these evolutionary mechanisms have been traditionally understood.
Project description:To be able to fully comprehend the contribution of the epigenome to embryonic development, it is important to understand how various components of the epigenome evolved. To date, a number of studies have thoroughly described various epigenetic mechanisms in both vertebrates and invertebrates, however there is currently a lack of high resolution epigenomic data corresponding to animals that form the invertebrate-vertebrate boundary. To that end, we have sequenced the genome of the European amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum) and explored various layers of its epigenome. Our whole genome bisulfite sequencing (MethylC-seq) approach revealed that amphioxus displays invertebrate-like, mosaic DNA methylation patterns. Nevertheless, we found significant DNA methylation remodeling events taking place during tissue differentiation, mostly consisting of developmental hypomethylation. This developmental loss of DNA methylation temporally coincides with the activation of the Tet protein orthologue in the amphioxus genome, suggestive of active demethylation. Furthermore, comparisons with chromatin accessibility data (ATAC-seq) demonstrate that this demethylation event affects cis regulatory elements, as previously described in vertebrates. Altogether, our study provides a rich developmental resource for studying epigenome evolution and demonstrates for the first time the existence of embryonic DNA methylation remodeling in an invertebrate chordate.
Project description:Sperm contains essential proteins for interaction with eggs, however, there are only several sperm proteins reported with important role in fertilization, and gamete proteomics are limited in marine invertebrate species. We present here a sperm proteomic profile of marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. There are 816 proteins were successfully identified by LC-MS/MS based on 1-DE SDS-PAGE. Many of the identifications are relevant to sperm cell physiology and mtDNA functioning. The results will contribute to better understand the proteins involved in fertilization in M. galloprovincialis, as well as the other marine invertebrate species.