Ultrastructural Complexity in Unconventional Cells

非常规细胞的超微结构复杂性

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-03986
• 负责人: Leander, Brian
• 金额: $ 5.03万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=746336
• 关键词: Ultrastructural; Complexity; Unconventional; Cells

Single-celled organisms have dominated the planet for over 3 billion years, yet their traits are the least understood of all extant organisms. Of the three major lineages of microbial life, single-celled eukaryotes are the most complex. Unlike bacteria and archaea, eukaryotic cells have nuclei, endomembrane systems, endosymbiotically acquired organelles and elaborate cytoskeletons supporting a vast array of specialized cell extensions and behaviors. Our research program is designed to explore unconventional eukaryotes in order to help unravel the composition, interrelationships and innovative cellular traits in lineages that span the tree of life. The research aims to accelerate the discovery of novel single-celled eukaryotes and reconstruct complex ultrastructural systems using comparative molecular methods and high-resolution microscopy. A central goal in biology is to understand the function of complex structures and how they arose from simpler precursors. This is especially challenging in the field of comparative cell biology because these studies require sophisticated technologies, spatial reasoning at a fine scale and detailed terminology associated with unfamiliar organisms. Morphological complexity is normally associated with multicellularity, as seen in the camera-type eyes found in several groups of animals. However, some single-celled eukaryotes have also acquired extremely complex traits by arranging standard subcellular components in extraordinary ways. Dinoflagellates, for instance, represent a major lineage of eukaryotes with an unusually high level of cellular diversity. Our lab has shown that some dinoflagellates have an eye-like "ocelloid" consisting of subcellular analogues to a cornea, lens, iris and retina. These same species also have intricate harpoon-like "nematocysts", some of which use a single pressurized capsule for propulsion, while others uniquely launch 11 to 15 projectiles from an arrangement similar to a Gatling gun. Comparative studies of traits like these offer idiosyncratic systems for tracing novel cases of convergence and the intermediate stages that gave rise to highly integrated structures. Research on the unity and diversity of complex ultrastuctural traits is exploratory and progresses in four principal phases: (1) collection of uncultivated organisms from diverse environments; (2) single-cell preparation and characterization using high-resolution microscopy (CLSM, FIB-SEM, TEM); (3) single-cell isolation for transcriptomics and genomics; (4) computational analyses associated with digital image processing and bioinformatics. Outcomes of this research accelerate the discovery of new traits in eukaryotic cells from diverse environments and identify novel ways in which single-celled organisms have solved basic problems, such as locomotion, feeding, defense and photoreception.

单细胞生物体统治地球超过30亿年，但它们的特征是所有现存生物体中最不被了解的。在微生物生命的三大谱系中，单细胞真核生物是最复杂的。与细菌和古生物不同，真核细胞有核、内膜系统、内共生获得的细胞器和复杂的细胞骨架，支持大量特殊的细胞延伸和行为。我们的研究计划旨在探索非传统真核生物，以帮助揭开跨越生命树的谱系的组成、相互关系和创新的细胞特征。这项研究旨在加速发现新型单细胞真核生物，并利用比较分子方法和高分辨率显微镜重建复杂的超微结构系统。生物学的一个中心目标是了解复杂结构的功能，以及它们是如何从更简单的前体产生的。这在比较细胞生物学领域尤其具有挑战性，因为这些研究需要复杂的技术、精细规模的空间推理和与陌生生物相关的详细术语。形态的复杂性通常与多细胞有关，就像在几组动物中发现的相机类型的眼睛所看到的那样。然而，一些单细胞真核生物也通过以不寻常的方式排列标准的亚细胞成分获得了极其复杂的特征。例如，甲藻代表了真核生物的一个主要谱系，具有异常高的细胞多样性水平。我们的实验室已经证明，一些甲藻有一个类似眼睛的“眼球”，由角膜、晶状体、虹膜和视网膜的亚细胞类似物组成。这些物种还具有错综复杂的鱼叉状“线虫囊”，其中一些使用单个加压胶囊进行推进，而另一些物种则独特地从类似于加特林枪的布置中发射11至15枚炮弹。对这些特征的比较研究为追踪新的趋同案例和产生高度整合结构的中间阶段提供了特殊的系统。对复杂超结构性状的统一性和多样性的研究正在探索中，主要分四个阶段进行：(1)从不同环境中收集未培养的生物；(2)利用高分辨率显微镜(CLSM、FIB-SEM、TEM)进行单细胞制备和表征；(3)用于转录组和基因组学的单细胞分离；(4)与数字图像处理和生物信息学相关的计算分析。这项研究的结果加速了在不同环境中发现真核细胞的新特征，并确定了单细胞生物解决基本问题的新方法，如运动、取食、防御和光接收。