title: The genome of the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and the origin of metazoans.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Center for Integrative Genomics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. nking@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: M Jody
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Westbrook
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abedin
authors.forename: Jarrod
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fairclough
authors.forename: Uffe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hellsten
authors.forename: Yoh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Isogai
authors.forename: Ivica
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Letunic
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marr
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pincus
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Putnam
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rokas
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zuzow
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dirks
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Good
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goodstein
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lemons
authors.forename: Wanqing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jessica B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Asaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salamov
authors.forename: J G I
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Sequencing
authors.forename: Peer
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bork
authors.forename: Wendell A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.forename: W Todd
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: McGinnis
authors.forename: Harris
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tjian
authors.forename: Igor V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Grigoriev
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rokhsar
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D014157:Transcription Factors; D019000:Phosphotyrosine