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Science (New York, N.Y.) Nov 2021The evolutionary origin of metazoan cell types such as neurons and muscles is not known. Using whole-body single-cell RNA sequencing in a sponge, an animal without...
The evolutionary origin of metazoan cell types such as neurons and muscles is not known. Using whole-body single-cell RNA sequencing in a sponge, an animal without nervous system and musculature, we identified 18 distinct cell types. These include nitric oxide–sensitive contractile pinacocytes, amoeboid phagocytes, and secretory neuroid cells that reside in close contact with digestive choanocytes that express scaffolding and receptor proteins. Visualizing neuroid cells by correlative x-ray and electron microscopy revealed secretory vesicles and cellular projections enwrapping choanocyte microvilli and cilia. Our data show a communication system that is organized around sponge digestive chambers, using conserved modules that became incorporated into the pre- and postsynapse in the nervous systems of other animals.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Cell Communication; Cell Surface Extensions; Cilia; Digestive System; Mesoderm; Nervous System; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Nitric Oxide; Porifera; RNA-Seq; Secretory Vesicles; Signal Transduction; Single-Cell Analysis; Transcriptome
PubMed: 34735222
DOI: 10.1126/science.abj2949 -
MBio Apr 2016A paradigm shift has recently transformed the field of biological science; molecular advances have revealed how fundamentally important microorganisms are to many... (Review)
Review
A paradigm shift has recently transformed the field of biological science; molecular advances have revealed how fundamentally important microorganisms are to many aspects of a host's phenotype and evolution. In the process, an era of "holobiont" research has emerged to investigate the intricate network of interactions between a host and its symbiotic microbial consortia. Marine sponges are early-diverging metazoa known for hosting dense, specific, and often highly diverse microbial communities. Here we synthesize current thoughts about the environmental and evolutionary forces that influence the diversity, specificity, and distribution of microbial symbionts within the sponge holobiont, explore the physiological pathways that contribute to holobiont function, and describe the molecular mechanisms that underpin the establishment and maintenance of these symbiotic partnerships. The collective genomes of the sponge holobiont form the sponge hologenome, and we highlight how the forces that define a sponge's phenotype in fact act on the genomic interplay between the different components of the holobiont.
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Genome, Bacterial; Microbial Consortia; Porifera; Symbiosis
PubMed: 27103626
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00135-16 -
Marine Drugs Mar 2018The biosynthesis, structural diversity, and functionality of collagens of sponge origin are still paradigms and causes of scientific controversy. This review has the... (Review)
Review
The biosynthesis, structural diversity, and functionality of collagens of sponge origin are still paradigms and causes of scientific controversy. This review has the ambitious goal of providing thorough and comprehensive coverage of poriferan collagens as a multifaceted topic with intriguing hypotheses and numerous challenging open questions. The structural diversity, chemistry, and biochemistry of collagens in sponges are analyzed and discussed here. Special attention is paid to spongins, collagen IV-related proteins, fibrillar collagens from demosponges, and collagens from glass sponge skeletal structures. The review also focuses on prospects and trends in applications of sponge collagens for technology, materials science and biomedicine.
Topics: Animals; Biological Products; Collagen; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Porifera; Tissue Scaffolds
PubMed: 29510493
DOI: 10.3390/md16030079 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2022
Topics: Animals; Cnidaria; Immunity, Innate; Porifera
PubMed: 35173730
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.816550 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2021The islands of the South Pacific Ocean have been in the limelight for natural product biodiscovery, due to their unique and pristine tropical waters and environment. The... (Review)
Review
The islands of the South Pacific Ocean have been in the limelight for natural product biodiscovery, due to their unique and pristine tropical waters and environment. The Kingdom of Tonga is an archipelago in the central Indo-Pacific Ocean, consisting of 176 islands, 36 of which are inhabited, flourishing with a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Many unique natural products with interesting bioactivities have been reported from Indo-Pacific marine sponges and other invertebrate phyla; however, there have not been any reviews published to date specifically regarding natural products from Tongan marine organisms. This review covers both known and new/novel Marine Natural Products (MNPs) and their biological activities reported from organisms collected within Tongan territorial waters up to December 2020, and includes 109 MNPs in total, the majority from the phylum Porifera. The significant biological activity of these metabolites was dominated by cytotoxicity and, by reviewing these natural products, it is apparent that the bulk of the new and interesting biologically active compounds were from organisms collected from one particular island, emphasizing the geographic variability in the chemistry between these organisms collected at different locations.
Topics: Animals; Aquatic Organisms; Biodiversity; Biological Products; Drug Discovery; Pacific Ocean; Porifera; Secondary Metabolism; Tonga; Tropical Climate
PubMed: 34361690
DOI: 10.3390/molecules26154534 -
Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Dec 2017This review discusses the chemistry of cyclic azole-homologated peptides (AHPs) from the marine sponges, Theonella swinhoei, other Theonella species, Calyx spp. and... (Review)
Review
This review discusses the chemistry of cyclic azole-homologated peptides (AHPs) from the marine sponges, Theonella swinhoei, other Theonella species, Calyx spp. and Plakina jamaicensis. The origin, distribution of AHPs and molecular structure elucidations of AHPs are described followed by their biosynthesis, bioactivity, and synthetic efforts towards their total synthesis. Reports of partial and total synthesis of AHPs extend beyond peptide coupling reactions and include creative construction of the non-proteinogenic amino acid components, mainly the homologated heteroaromatic and α-keto-β-amino acids. A useful conclusion is drawn regarding AHPs: despite their rarity, exotic structures and the potent protease inhibitory properties of some members, their synthesis is under-developed and beckons solutions for outstanding problems towards their efficient assembly.
Topics: Animals; Azoles; Molecular Conformation; Peptides; Porifera
PubMed: 29210421
DOI: 10.1039/c7ob02628e -
Trends in Ecology & Evolution May 2015Animal evolution is often presented as a march toward complexity, with different living animal groups each representing grades of organization that arose through the... (Review)
Review
Animal evolution is often presented as a march toward complexity, with different living animal groups each representing grades of organization that arose through the progressive acquisition of complex traits. There are now many reasons to reject this classical hypothesis. Not only is it incompatible with recent phylogenetic analyses, but it is also an artifact of 'hidden biology', that is, blind spots to complex traits in non-model species. A new hypothesis of animal evolution, where many complex traits have been repeatedly gained and lost, is emerging. As we discuss here, key details of this new model hinge on a better understanding of the Porifera and Ctenophora, which have each been hypothesized to be sister to all other animals, but are poorly studied and often misrepresented.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Ctenophora; Phylogeny; Porifera
PubMed: 25840473
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.03.003 -
International Journal of Molecular... Aug 2021Ferritins comprise a conservative family of proteins found in all species and play an essential role in resistance to redox stress, immune response, and cell...
Ferritins comprise a conservative family of proteins found in all species and play an essential role in resistance to redox stress, immune response, and cell differentiation. Sponges (Porifera) are the oldest Metazoa that show unique plasticity and regenerative potential. Here, we characterize the ferritins of two cold-water sponges using proteomics, spectral microscopy, and bioinformatic analysis. The recently duplicated conservative and atypical genes were found in the genome. Multiple related transcripts of were identified in the transcriptome. Expression of was much higher than that of in all annual seasons and regulated differently during the sponge dissociation/reaggregation. The presence of the MRE and HRE motifs in the and promotor regions and the IRE motif in mRNAs of and indicates that sponge ferritins expression depends on the cellular iron and oxygen levels. The gel electrophoresis combined with specific staining and mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of ferric ions and ferritins in multi-subunit complexes. The 3D modeling predicts the iron-binding capacity of HdF1 and HpF1 at the ferroxidase center and the absence of iron-binding in atypical HdF2. Interestingly, atypical ferritins lacking iron-binding capacity were found in genomes of many invertebrate species. Their function deserves further research.
Topics: Animals; Conserved Sequence; Ferritins; Iron; Metabolic Networks and Pathways; Models, Molecular; Phylogeny; Porifera; Protein Domains; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Transcriptome
PubMed: 34445356
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22168635 -
Zootaxa May 2021The peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa has accelerated the rate of sponge (Porifera) species discoveries in 289 peer-reviewed papers published between 2002 up until the end...
The peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa has accelerated the rate of sponge (Porifera) species discoveries in 289 peer-reviewed papers published between 2002 up until the end of 2020, describing 725 new species, six new subspecies, 27 new genera, four new subgenera, and 123 new species and genus names needed to resolve existing homonyms. Zootaxa has been the most prolific of all taxonomic journals in its contributions to describing new taxa of Porifera in modern times. This present article analyses these taxonomic contributions over the past 20 years of Zootaxa, including their trends and highlights pertaining to sponge publications.
Topics: Animals; Periodicals as Topic; Porifera
PubMed: 34187015
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4979.1.8 -
Current Opinion in Genetics &... Aug 2016The emergence of complex animal life forms remains poorly understood despite substantial interest and research in this area. To be informative, the ideal models to study... (Review)
Review
The emergence of complex animal life forms remains poorly understood despite substantial interest and research in this area. To be informative, the ideal models to study transitions from single-cell organisms to the first animals and then to mammalian-level complexity should be phylogenetically strategically placed and retain ancestral characters. Sponges (Porifera) are likely to be the earliest branching animal phylum. When analysed from morphological, genomic and developmental perspectives, sponges appear to combine features of single-cell eukaryotic organisms and the complex multicellular animals (Eumetazoa). Intriguingly, homologues of components of the eumetazoan regulatory networks specifying the endoderm, the germ-cells and stem cells and (neuro) sensory cells are expressed in sponge choanocytes, archaeocytes and larval sensory cells. Studies using sponges as model systems are already bringing insights into animal evolution, and have opened avenues to further research benefitting from the recent spectacular expansion of genomic technologies.
Topics: Animals; Evolution, Molecular; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genome; Germ Cells; Porifera; Stem Cells
PubMed: 27318691
DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2016.05.026