Scientists of University of Bergen: The surprising diversity of behavior within the rosette-shaped colony has been revealed. Salpingoeca Rosetta is a rare species of choanoflagellates – the closest relatives of animals.
Artwork depicting calcium signaling in rosette colonies of choanoflagellates Salpingoeca Rosetta. Image credit: Davis Laundon & Kate Zvorykina, Ella MAR Studio, Inc.
“We discovered that communication takes place between the cells of the colony, which regulates the overall shape of the rosette and the beating of the ciliary body,” said Dr. Jeffrey Colgren, a researcher at the Michael Szasz Center at the University of Bergen. Ta.
“Before I put the cultures under the microscope, I didn’t really have any expectations of what I was going to see in the cultures, but once I saw them, I was really excited.”
Multicellularity is a defining feature of all animals, allowing animals to interact with their environment in unique ways by integrating input from highly specialized cell types such as neurons and muscle cells. make it possible.
In the case of choanoflagellates, flagellated bacterial organisms found in marine and aquatic environments around the world, the boundaries between unicellularity and multicellularity are less clear-cut.
including some species Salpingoeca Rosetta exhibiting a complex life cycle that includes a colonial period.
Colonies are formed by cell division, similar to the development of animal embryos, but they do not have specialized cell types and resemble groups of individual cells rather than cohesive organisms.
“Salpingoeca Rosetta “This is a powerful model to study the emergence of multicellularity in animal evolution,” said Dr. Pawel Burkhardt, also from the Michael Saas Center at the University of Bergen.
“Our study provides interesting insights into early sensorimotor systems, as it reveals that colonial flagellates coordinate their movements through a common signaling pathway.”
Using a newly developed genetic tool that can visualize calcium activity Salpingoeca Rosetta The authors found that the cells synchronize their behavior through voltage-gated calcium channels, the same type of channels used by neurons and muscle cells in animals.
“This evidence of how information flows between cells in a choanoflagellate colony points to cell-to-cell signaling at the apex of multicellularity,” Dr. Colgren said.
“Surprisingly, this discovery suggests that the ability to coordinate movement at the cellular level predates the first animals.”
The research team now plans to further investigate how signals are propagated between cells and whether similar mechanisms exist in other choanoflagellate species.
“The tools developed and the results of this study reveal many new and interesting questions,” said Dr. Colgren.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing what direction ourselves and others take this in the future.”
a paper A description of the discovery was published in a magazine scientific progress.
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Jeffrey Colgren and Pawel Burkhardt. 2025. Electrical signaling and cooperative behavior in animals’ closest relatives. scientific progress 11(2);doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adr7434
Source: www.sci.news
