Transfection of Capsaspora owczarzaki , a close unicellular relative of animals

SUGA, HIROSHI; KOZYCZKOWSKA, ALEKSANDRA; PARRA-ACERO, HELENA; RUIZ-TRILLO, IÑAKI; NAKATA, AZUSA; PEREZ-POSADA, ALBERTO; NAJLE, SEBASTIÁN R.; SÁNCHEZ-PONS, NÚRIA; ROS-ROCHER, NÚRIA

DEVELOPMENT

COMPANY OF BIOLOGISTS LTD

Año: 2018

0950-1991

How animals emerged from their unicellular ancestor remains a major evolutionary question. New genome data from the closest unicellular relatives of animals has provided important insights into animal origins. We know that the unicellular ancestor of animals had an unexpectedly complex genetic repertoire, including many genes key to animal development and multicellularity. Thus, assessing the function of these genes among unicellular relatives of animals is key to understand how were they co-opted at the onset of Metazoa. However, those analyses have been hampered by the lack of genetic tools. Progress has been made in choanoflagellates and teretosporeans, two of the three lineages closely related to animals, while in filastereans no tools are yet available for functional analysis. Importantly, filastereans possess a striking repertoire of genes involved in transcriptional regulation and other developmental processes. Here, we describe a reliable transfection method for the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki. We also provide a set of constructs for visualizing subcellular structures in live cells. These tools convert Capsaspora into a unique experimentally tractable organism to address the origin and evolution of animal multicellularity.