Umen James, Herron Matthew D
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132, USA; email:
School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA; email:
Annu Rev Genet. 2021 Nov 23;55:603-632. doi: 10.1146/annurev-genet-032321-091533. Epub 2021 Sep 21.
The repeated evolution of multicellularity across the tree of life has profoundly affected the ecology and evolution of nearly all life on Earth. Many of these origins were in different groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes, or algae. Here, we review the evolution and genetics of multicellularity in several groups of green algae, which include the closest relatives of land plants. These include millimeter-scale, motile spheroids of up to 50,000 cells in the volvocine algae; decimeter-scale seaweeds in the genus (sea lettuce); and very plantlike, meter-scale freshwater algae in the genus (stoneworts). We also describe algae in the genus , which are giant, multinucleate, morphologically complex single cells. In each case, we review the life cycle, phylogeny, and genetics of traits relevant to the evolution of multicellularity, and genetic and genomic resources available for the group in question. Finally, we suggest routes toward developing these groups as model organisms for the evolution of multicellularity.
多细胞性在生命之树上的反复演化深刻影响了地球上几乎所有生命的生态和演化。其中许多起源于不同的光合真核生物类群，即藻类。在此，我们综述了几类绿藻中多细胞性的演化和遗传学，这些绿藻包括陆地植物的近亲。其中有团藻目中多达50000个细胞的毫米级能动球体；浒苔属的分米级海藻（海白菜）；以及轮藻属非常像植物的米级淡水藻类（轮藻）。我们还描述了伞藻属的藻类，它们是巨大的、多核的、形态复杂的单细胞。在每种情况下，我们都综述了与多细胞性演化相关的生命周期、系统发育和性状遗传学，以及相关类群可用的遗传和基因组资源。最后，我们提出了将这些类群发展成为多细胞性演化模式生物的途径。
