Acoel single-cell transcriptomics: cell-type analysis of a deep branching organism

Bilaterian animals display a wide variety of cell types, organized into defined anatomical structures and organ systems, which are mostly absent in pre-bilaterian animals. Xenacoelomorpha are an early branching bilaterian phylum displaying an apparently relatively simple anatomical organization that have greatly diverged from other Bilaterian clades. In this study, we use whole-body single-cell transcriptomics on the acoel Isodiametra pulchra to identify and characterize different cell types. Our analysis identifies the existence of at least 11 major cell-type categories in acoels all contributing to the main biological functions of the organism: metabolism, locomotion and movements, behavior, defense and development. Interestingly, while most cell clusters express core fate markers shared with other animal clades, we also describe a surprisingly large numbers of clade-specific marker genes, suggesting the emergence of clade-specific common molecular machineries functioning in distinct cell types. Together, these results provide novel insight into the evolution of bilaterian cell-types and open the door to a better understanding of the origins of the bilaterian body plan and their constitutive cell types. Overall design: Single-cell transcriptomics of Isodiametra pulchra hatchlings

Identifier
Source https://data.blue-cloud.org/search-details?step=~012FE632B161A32100FC64E653B39E41A00F26E1F46
Metadata Access https://data.blue-cloud.org/api/collections/FE632B161A32100FC64E653B39E41A00F26E1F46
Provenance
Instrument Illumina NovaSeq 6000; ILLUMINA
Publisher Blue-Cloud Data Discovery & Access service; ELIXIR-ENA
Publication Year 2024
OpenAccess true
Contact blue-cloud-support(at)maris.nl
Representation
Discipline Marine Science
Temporal Coverage Begin 2020-07-21T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2020-07-23T00:00:00Z