Developing Corallochytrium limacisporum, an enigmatic unicellular opisthokont, as a new model organism

SEBASTIÁN R. NAJLE; MARIA RUBIO; ELENA CASACUBERTA; IÑAKI RUIZ-TRILLO

Praga

Congreso; 15th International Congress of Protistology ICOP2017; 2017

International Society of Protistologists

Understanding how evolution has been remodeling more simple organisms into more complex forms of life, is key to understanding the diversity of lifestyles that we see nowadays. Different and complementary approaches to unravel the course of evolution are necessary to tackle this big question. Genome data is, undoubtedly, the first approach to unravel that diversity and biology, but it is only with the development of molecular tools to experimentally test different hypotheses and obtain functional answers, that we can fully understand this transition. The eukaryotic clade known as Opisthokonta is an ideal group to address many biological and evolutionary questions, since it comprises two of the most complex eukaryotic lineages, our own animal clade, and Fungi. One of the earliest branching lineages among opisthokonts is the Corallochytrea, with only one taxon described so far: the free-living marine Corallochytrium limacisporum, isolated from coral reefs. C. limacisporum was first described as a fungus, but molecular phylogenies situated it within the clade that comprises animals and their closest unicellular relatives. Thus, this species is key to understanding animal origins. We have here developed for the first time essential molecular tools in C. limacisporum. Protocols for robust transient and stable transfection have been already established allowing now further steps into genome editing in this organism and therefore allowing us to address more specific biological questions, which will be discussed.