The genome of the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and the origin of metazoans.
Choanoflagellates are the closest known relatives of metazoans. To discover potential molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of metazoan multicellularity, we sequenced and analysed the genome of the unicellular choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis. The genome contains approximately 9,200 intron-rich genes, including a number that encode cell adhesion and signalling protein domains that are otherwise restricted to metazoans. Here we show that the physical linkages among protein domains often differ between M. brevicollis and metazoans, suggesting that abundant domain shuffling followed the separation of the choanoflagellate and metazoan lineages. The completion of the M. brevicollis genome allows us to reconstruct with increasing resolution the genomic changes that accompanied the origin of metazoans.
King
Nicole
N
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Center for Integrative Genomics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. nking@berkeley.edu
Westbrook
M Jody
MJ
Young
Susan L
SL
Kuo
Alan
A
Abedin
Monika
M
Chapman
Jarrod
J
Fairclough
Stephen
S
Hellsten
Uffe
U
Isogai
Yoh
Y
Letunic
Ivica
I
Marr
Michael
M
Pincus
David
D
Putnam
Nicholas
N
Rokas
Antonis
A
Wright
Kevin J
KJ
Zuzow
Richard
R
Dirks
William
W
Good
Matthew
M
Goodstein
David
D
Lemons
Derek
D
Li
Wanqing
W
Lyons
Jessica B
JB
Morris
Andrea
A
Nichols
Scott
S
Richter
Daniel J
DJ
Salamov
Asaf
A
Sequencing
J G I
JG
Bork
Peer
P
Lim
Wendell A
WA
Manning
Gerard
G
Miller
W Todd
WT
McGinnis
William
W
Shapiro
Harris
H
Tjian
Robert
R
Grigoriev
Igor V
IV
Rokhsar
Daniel
D
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D019000:Phosphotyrosine / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D014157:Transcription Factors; D019000:Phosphotyrosine