The Ectocarpus genome and the independent evolution of multicellularity in brown algae

Brown algae (Phaeophyceae) are complex photosynthetic organisms with a very different evolutionary history to green plants, to which they are only distantly related. These seaweeds are the dominant species in rocky coastal ecosystems and they exhibit many interesting adaptations to these, often hars...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature (London) 2010-06, Vol.465 (7298), p.617-621
Main Authors:	Cock, J. Mark, Sterck, Lieven, Rouzé, Pierre, Scornet, Delphine, Allen, Andrew E, Amoutzias, Grigoris, Anthouard, Veronique, Artiguenave, François, Aury, Jean-Marc, Badger, Jonathan H, Beszteri, Bank, Billiau, Kenny, Bonnet, Eric, Bothwell, John H, Bowler, Chris, Boyen, Catherine, Brownlee, Colin, Carrano, Carl J, Charrier, Bénédicte, Cho, Ga Youn, Coelho, Susana M, Collén, Jonas, Corre, Erwan, Da Silva, Corinne, Delage, Ludovic, Delaroque, Nicolas, Dittami, Simon M, Doulbeau, Sylvie, Elias, Marek, Farnham, Garry, Gachon, Claire M. M, Gschloessl, Bernhard, Heesch, Svenja, Jabbari, Kamel, Jubin, Claire, Kawai, Hiroshi, Kimura, Kei, Kloareg, Bernard, Küpper, Frithjof C, Lang, Daniel, Le Bail, Aude, Leblanc, Catherine, Lerouge, Patrice, Lohr, Martin, Lopez, Pascal J, Martens, Cindy, Maumus, Florian, Michel, Gurvan, Miranda-Saavedra, Diego, Morales, Julia, Moreau, Hervé, Motomura, Taizo, Nagasato, Chikako, Napoli, Carolyn A, Nelson, David R, Nyvall-Collén, Pi, Peters, Akira F, Pommier, Cyril, Potin, Philippe, Poulain, Julie, Quesneville, Hadi, Read, Betsy, Rensing, Stefan A, Ritter, Andrés, Rousvoal, Sylvie, Samanta, Manoj, Samson, Gaelle, Schroeder, Declan C, Ségurens, Béatrice, Strittmatter, Martina, Tonon, Thierry, Tregear, James W, Valentin, Klaus, von Dassow, Peter, Yamagishi, Takahiro, Van de Peer, Yves, Wincker, Patrick
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Algae Algal Proteins - genetics Animals Artificial chromosomes Biological and medical sciences Biological Evolution Cellular signal transduction Development Biology Divergent evolution DNA methylation DNA sequencing Eukaryota Evolution Evolution, Molecular Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Genetic aspects Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution Genome - genetics Genomics Kinases Life Sciences Light Methods Microbiological synthesis Molecular Sequence Data Nucleotide sequencing Phaeophyceae - cytology Phaeophyceae - genetics Phaeophyceae - metabolism Phylogeny Pigments, Biological - biosynthesis Plants Signal Transduction - genetics
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Summary:	Brown algae (Phaeophyceae) are complex photosynthetic organisms with a very different evolutionary history to green plants, to which they are only distantly related. These seaweeds are the dominant species in rocky coastal ecosystems and they exhibit many interesting adaptations to these, often harsh, environments. Brown algae are also one of only a small number of eukaryotic lineages that have evolved complex multicellularity (Fig. 1). We report the 214 million base pair (Mbp) genome sequence of the filamentous seaweed Ectocarpus siliculosus (Dillwyn) Lyngbye, a model organism for brown algae, closely related to the kelps (Fig. 1). Genome features such as the presence of an extended set of light-harvesting and pigment biosynthesis genes and new metabolic processes such as halide metabolism help explain the ability of this organism to cope with the highly variable tidal environment. The evolution of multicellularity in this lineage is correlated with the presence of a rich array of signal transduction genes. Of particular interest is the presence of a family of receptor kinases, as the independent evolution of related molecules has been linked with the emergence of multicellularity in both the animal and green plant lineages. The Ectocarpus genome sequence represents an important step towards developing this organism as a model species, providing the possibility to combine genomic and genetic approaches to explore these and other aspects of brown algal biology further.
ISSN:	0028-0836 1476-4687