Class I RNA expression in different dictyostelids

Aggregative multicellularity has evolved multiple times in diverse groups of eukaryotes. One of the most well-studied examples is the development of dictyostelid social amoebae, e.g. Dictyostelium discoideum. However, it is still poorly understood why multicellularity emerged in these amoebae while the great majority of other members of Amoebozoa are unicellular. Previously a novel type of non-coding RNA, Class I RNAs, was identified in D. discoideum and demonstrated to be important for normal multicellular development. Here we investigated Class I RNA evolution and its connection to multicellular development. Here we investigate the evolution and expression of these ncRNAs in dictyostelids.

聚集型多细胞性在真核生物的多个类群中独立演化多次。其中研究最为深入的范例之一，是盘基网柄菌目社会性变形虫的发育过程，例如盘基网柄菌（Dictyostelium discoideum）。然而，为何这类变形虫会演化出多细胞性，而变形虫门（Amoebozoa）的绝大多数其他类群仍为单细胞生物，这一问题至今仍未得到充分阐释。此前，研究人员在盘基网柄菌中鉴定出一类新型非编码RNA（non-coding RNA）——I类RNA（Class I RNAs），并证实其对该菌的正常多细胞发育具有关键作用。本研究围绕I类RNA的演化历程及其与多细胞发育的关联展开探究，并进一步分析了这类非编码RNA在盘基网柄菌中的演化与表达特征。