The group's descendants have traces back to their roots a Billion-Yard evolutionary fable led biologists to determine if cells shattered naturally

Description

Nirupa Rao illustrated the mitosporeans, Sphaeroforma arctica, and Chromosphaera perkinsii in a naturalist way, with Haeckel-inspired tones and an artistic approach.

All living beings, including bacteria and blue whales, rely on cell division as a crucial process for growth, reproduction, and species continuity, but the methods of cell division vary widely from place to place and depend on the individual organism. The findings, reported in Nature, were published on 2 March 2007 by Dey and his team who delved into the evolution of cell division methods in organisms closely related to fungi and animals.

Although they shared a common ancestor with fungi over a billion years ago, animals and fungi are closely related to eukaryotes. Despite differing in their mechanisms and actions, fungi carry out various physiological functions, including mitosis.

The nuclear envelope, which is a two-layered membrane that separates the nucleus from the rest of the cell, breaks down during the initiation of animal cell division, while fungi display a different mode of cell division, known as closed or closed mitosis. The reason for this and other modes of cell division remains unclear, with no evidence to support the findings of the evolutionary differences between the two modes of cell division.

Scientists from the Dey Group at EMBL Heidelberg aimed to reframe the evolution of basic biological processes by investigating their origins, including the origin of the nucleus and the origin of cell division.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, discussions between Dey's group and Omaya Dudin's team at the EPFL in Lausanne led to the development of an unexpected solution.

The Dey and Dudin groups, with the assistance of Yannick Schwab's group at EMBL Heidelberg, opted to study the origins of open and closed mitosis and discovered that some Ichthyosporea species undergo closed mitosis while others undergo open mitosis. This meant that by comparing and contrasting their biology, they could gain understanding of how clientilor Medici functions within undivided tiers of organisms such as cats, dogs, and even humans, and could learn about the dynamics of these two cell division modes of adaptation

The EIPOD fellowship was the inspiration for Shah, who pointed out that the study was conducted within all three groups. Shah explained that the group's expertise in cell biology and technical expertise was essential in addressing the issue, which included the role of Ichthyosporea in the evolutionary history of organisms.

Upon conducting a thorough examination of Ichthyosporean species, researchers discovered that S. arctica favors closed mitosis, which is comparable to fungi. S. arctica has a life cycle that includes multiple nuclei within the same cell, which is a common trait among many fungal species and some animals like fruit flies. Conversely, C. perkinsii relied on open mitosis and had a life cycle that was more adapted to animals, relying on mononucleate stages that each cell that contains a single nucleus.

Dey stated that their findings indicate that the process of mitosis in animal cells has evolved for hundreds of millions of years before animals, which could be significant for our understanding of the development and diversification of eukaryotic cell division processes across multiple life cycles.

The research involved applying knowledge in comparative phylogenetics Aldo Regan performed high precision electron microscopy, while the experimental work was carried out at the Schwab Group and at the EMCF facility at EMBL Heidelberg.As well as ultrastructure expansion microscopy, the application of a transparent gel structure that involves extending the size of the sample, was also described.As an instance of ultrastructure expansion microscopy was performed by Eelco Tromer of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and Ivava Tolicciacia, the area's

The study of the cytoskeleton of ichthyosporean organisms was significantly influenced by the application of U-ExM, as demonstrated by researchers at EMBL Heidelberg.

The research highlights the importance of extending the study of a traditional model organism in addressing broad biological questions and also highlights the potential benefits of studying Ichthyosporean systems.

The project's innate interdependence served as a helpful stepping stone for collaborative research and the advanced postdoctoral training available at EMBL. Schwab believed that the EIPOD program's ability to integrate innovative biology into advanced methods was a valuable asset to individuals' careers.

Using expansion microscopy, the PlanExM project, developed by the Dey, Dudin, and Schwab teams, will investigate the biodiversity and evolution of marine protists by focusing on specific areas of expertise.

The publication Nature from 2021 refers to the study on the evolution of mitosis in closely related animals, which is synchronized with the cycle of life. The paper is available at DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-07430-z1.