Identification of genes involved in the test formation in Arcella intermedia leavis through transcriptome

• Grant number: 16/14317-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2017
• End date: November 01, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Daniel José Galafasse Lahr
• Grantee: Alfredo Leonardo Porfirio de Sousa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 17/19388-0 - Arcellinida (Amoebozoa) shell formation: Generation of transcriptomes from Cryptodifflugia during shell formation and optimization of transcriptomes and gene families analysis, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Arcellinids are lobose amoebae characterized by the presence of a shell (test). Testate amoebae reproduce by binary fission, and before each division a new test is formed. Different lineages present great diversity of test morphologies. The test can be secreted, agglutinated, and have diversechemical compositions. Recently, shells have gained a central role in different research areas, including paleoecology, forensic sciences and ecotoxicology. However, the molecular processes and pathways involved in shell formation remains unknown. While the morphological stages have been well documented in a number of lineages, the genes involved remain unknown to all testate amoeba lineages. With RNA sequencing (transcriptome) we are able to identify active genes and transcripts during different cell conditions and processes, such as test morphogenesis. Transcriptome analysis characterize the cell transcriptional activity and gene expression. Gene duplications and others molecular processes are related to evolutionary novelties, like the origin of test, and can identified by RNA-seq and gene annotation. Arcella intermedia leavis (Arcellinida) is a testate amoeba species with a secreted test, abundant in fresh water, cultivable and commonly used in molecular experiments. Our objective is to seek the genes involved in morphogenesis of the test, studying gene expression during the test formation. We are going to obtain transcriptomes from individuals of Arcella intermedia leavis in two different moments: Individuals before the beginning of test formation and individuals forming a new test. We will analyze and compare the transcriptomes obtained, identifying qualitative and quantitative gene expression differences. This study is the first step to molecularly understand the test formation, with the description of genes involved, enabling a better understanding about this microorganism evolution and molecular evolution of genomes. Since many genes involved in central biological processes are conserved even between phylogenetically distant lineages, we are going to describe processes and metabolic pathways possibly related to genes involved in thecagenesis, based on homologous genes present and described in other organisms, basing future descriptions and shedding light on the discussion about genotype and phenotype relation. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RIBEIRO, GIULIA M.; PORFIRIO-SOUSA, ALFREDO L.; MAURER-ALCALA, XYRUS X.; KATZ, LAURA A.; LAHR, DANIEL J. G.. De novo Sequencing, Assembly, and Annotation of the Transcriptome for the Free-Living Testate Amoeba Arcella intermedia. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, v. 67, n. 3, FEB 2020. (17/16077-3, 16/14317-4, 16/14402-1)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SOUSA, Alfredo Leonardo Porfirio de. Elucidating the molecular machinery of an evolutionary novelty: Single-cell transcriptomics of Arcella intermedia and characterization of gene expression during shell formation. 2019. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) São Paulo.