Cell position is more important than cell shape or age for the acquisition of cell identity in the brown alga Ectocarpus.
Saint-Marcoux, D.; Billoud, B.; Chenivesse, S.; Duchene, C.; Le Bail, A.; Langdale, J.; Charrier, B.
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The brown alga Ectocarpus is a complex yet morphologically simple organism in which cells of the growing filament undergo changes in shape and relative position over time. Here we have investigated the role of cell age, cell position and cell shape in the establishment of cell identity in Ectocarpus. To understand how these factors act and combine to determine cell identity, we used laser capture microdissection (LCM) to isolate specific cell types from young sporophytes of Ectocarpus and then performed differential RNA-Seq analysis. Transcriptome data were used to allocate molecular signatures to cell identities and then cell populations were distinguished on the basis of age, shape, and position. Transcriptome profiling of a wild-type strain provided molecular signatures of five distinct cell identities. To dis-associate cell shape, age and position, we then analysed transcriptomes of two mutants in which the relationships between the three parameters were altered. Collectively our data revealed that molecular cell signatures are dependent primarily on cell position along the filament, and secondarily on cell shape.
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