Shedding light on the molecular apparatus of the shell formation process in testate amoeba (Amoebozoa:Arcellinida)

• Grant number: 19/22692-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2020
• End date: March 01, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• 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): 21/09529-0 - Development of a tool for GFP expression in live cells of the eukaryote Arcella intermedia, to determine the involvement of Rab-GTPases in the shell formation process, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The emergence of evolutionary novelties is a central question in evolutionary biology. A scarcity of molecular data and bioinformatic tools have historically impaired the study of the origin and evolution of novelties. Currently, with the advance of molecular biology and bioinformatics, several works have proposed the evolutionary processes that underlie origin and evolution of novelties. The shell (test) is an evolutionary novelty in Arcellinida (Amoebozoa), one of the testate amoebae groups of Eukaryotes. Currently, our understanding of Arcellinida shell as an evolutionary novelty is impaired, since the molecular apparatus involved in shell formation process (thecagenesis) is unknown. Here we propose a combined transcriptomics, phylogenetics, and immunocytochemistry framework to study the molecular apparatus involved in shell formation and its evolutionary story; we aim to fill the gap that exists between morpho-cytological description and molecular data of thecagenesis in Arcellinida. Ultimately, we aim to establish Arcellinida shell as a model to study evolutionary novelties and propose the approach applied in the present project for other eukaryotic testate amoebae lineages. (AU)

Academic Publications

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

SOUSA, Alfredo Leonardo Porfirio de. Phylogenetics, cell biology, genomics, and biotechnological applications of Amoebozoa with emphasis on testate amoebae (Arcellinida). 2024. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) São Paulo.