title: An Evo-Devo Perspective on Multicellular Development of Myxobacteria.
abstract: The transition to multicellularity, recognized as one the major transitions in evolution, has occurred independently several times. While multicellular development has been extensively studied in zygotic organisms including plant and animal groups, just a few aggregative multicellular organisms have been employed as model organisms for the study of multicellularity. Studying different evolutionary origins and modes of multicellularity enables comparative analyses that can help identifying lineage-specific aspects of multicellular evolution and generic factors and mechanisms involved in the transition to multicellularity. Among aggregative multicellular organisms, myxobacteria are a valuable system to explore the particularities that aggregation confers to the evolution of multicellularity and mechanisms shared with clonal organisms. Moreover, myxobacteria species develop fruiting bodies displaying a range of morphological diversity. In this review, we aim to synthesize diverse lines of evidence regarding myxobacteria development and discuss them in the context of Evo-Devo concepts and approaches. First, we briefly describe the developmental processes in myxobacteria, present an updated comparative analysis of the genes involved in their developmental processes and discuss these and other lines of evidence in terms of co-option and developmental system drift, two concepts key to Evo-Devo studies. Next, as has been suggested from Evo-Devo approaches, we discuss how broad comparative studies and integration of diverse genetic, physicochemical, and environmental factors into experimental and theoretical models can further our understanding of myxobacterial development, phenotypic variation, and evolution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad (LANCIS), Instituto de Ecologiía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.|Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.|Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Arias Del Angel
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad (LANCIS), Instituto de Ecologiía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Ana E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Escalante
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Quiímica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.|Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: León Patricio
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Martínez-Castilla
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad (LANCIS), Instituto de Ecologiía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.|Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benítez
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D015509:Developmental Biology; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D009231:Myxococcales / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics*