From worm to germ: Germ cell development and regeneration in planarians

Issigonis, Melanie; Newmark, Phillip A.

doi:10.1016/bs.ctdb.2019.04.001

Cited by 31 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 139 publications

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“…Strictly categorizing PGC specification mechanisms into one of two types may fail to account for the true variety present in nature. Highly regenerative animals such as sponge, Hydra and planaria maintain multipotent stem cells that are capable of differentiating into both soma and germ line in adults ( Bosch and David, 1987 ; Fierro-Constaín et al, 2017 ; Issigonis and Newmark, 2019 ), thus representing an alternative post-embryonic mode of PGC specification. In sea urchin, a combination of inherited and inductive PGC specification mechanisms are observed ( Voronina et al, 2008 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hedgehog signaling is required for endomesodermal patterning and germ cell development in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

Chen

McKinney

Ellington

et al. 2020

eLife

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Two distinct mechanisms for primordial germ cell (PGC) specification are observed within Bilatera: early determination by maternal factors or late induction by zygotic cues. Here we investigate the molecular basis for PGC specification in Nematostella, a representative pre-bilaterian animal where PGCs arise as paired endomesodermal cell clusters during early development. We first present evidence that the putative PGCs delaminate from the endomesoderm upon feeding, migrate into the gonad primordia, and mature into germ cells. We then show that the PGC clusters arise at the interface between hedgehog1 and patched domains in the developing mesenteries and use gene knockdown, knockout and inhibitor experiments to demonstrate that Hh signaling is required for both PGC specification and general endomesodermal patterning. These results provide evidence that the Nematostella germline is specified by inductive signals rather than maternal factors, and support the existence of zygotically-induced PGCs in the eumetazoan common ancestor.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hedgehog signaling is required for endomesodermal patterning and germ cell development in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

Chen

McKinney

Ellington

et al. 2020

eLife

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“…These primordial germ cells initially express a schistosomespecific factor, eledh (Sm-eled, for brevity the prefix "Sm" will be omitted from gene names in the rest of the paper wherever species origin is unambiguous), and during germline specification activate one of the schistosome homologs of nanos (nanos-1), an RNA binding protein conserved across metazoans 5,[14][15][16][17][18] . Unlike most animals that segregate their germline from soma during embryonic development 15,19,20 , schistosomes specify their germ cells from a somatic cell lineage at the onset of juvenile development.…”

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confidence: 99%

Single-cell analysis of Schistosoma mansoni identifies a conserved genetic program controlling germline stem cell fate

Sarfati

Xue

et al. 2021

Nat Commun

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Schistosomes are parasitic flatworms causing one of the most prevalent infectious diseases from which millions of people are currently suffering. These parasites have high fecundity and their eggs are both the transmissible agents and the cause of the infection-associated pathology. Given its biomedical significance, the schistosome germline has been a research focus for more than a century. Nonetheless, molecular mechanisms that regulate its development are only now being understood. In particular, it is unknown what balances the fate of germline stem cells (GSCs) in producing daughter stem cells through mitotic divisions versus gametes through meiosis. Here, we perform single-cell RNA sequencing on juvenile schistosomes and capture GSCs during de novo gonadal development. We identify a genetic program that controls the proliferation and differentiation of GSCs. This program centers around onecut, a homeobox transcription factor, and boule, an mRNA binding protein. Their expressions are mutually dependent in the schistosome male germline, and knocking down either of them causes over-proliferation of GSCs and blocks germ cell differentiation. We further show that this germline-specific regulatory program is conserved in the planarian, schistosome’s free-living evolutionary cousin, but the function of onecut has changed during evolution to support GSC maintenance.

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“…These cells initially express a novel schistosome factor, eledh (Sm-eled, for brevity the prefix 'Sm' will be omitted from gene names in the rest of the paper wherever species origin is unambiguous), and during germline specification activate one of the schistosome homologs of nanos (nanos-1), an RNA binding protein conserved across metazoans 5,[14][15][16][17][18] . Unlike most animals that segregate their germline from soma during embryonic development 15,19,20 , schistosomes specify their germ cells from a somatic cell lineage at the onset of juvenile development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Planarian germline stem cells resemble their somatic stem cells both in terms of morphology and molecular signatures, and can even contribute to somatic tissues during tissue regeneration after injury [20][21][22][23][24] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-cell analysis ofSchistosoma mansonireveals a conserved genetic program controlling germline stem cell fate

Sarfati

Xue

et al. 2020

Preprint

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AbstractSchistosomes are parasitic flatworms causing one of the most prevalent infectious diseases from which millions of people are currently suffering. Their germline outputs many fertilized eggs, which are both the transmissible agents and the cause of the infection-associated pathology. Given its significance, the schistosome germline has been a research focus for more than a century. Nonetheless, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate its development. Here, we construct a transcriptomic cell type atlas of juvenile schistosomes. This allows us to capture germline stem cells (GSCs) during de novo gonadal development. We identify a genetic program that balances the fate of GSC between proliferation and differentiation. This program is controlled by onecut, a homeobox transcription factor, and boule, an mRNA binding protein. Evaluating this genetic program in schistosome’s free-living evolutionary cousin, the planarian, shows that this germline-specific regulatory program is conserved but its function has changed significantly during evolution.

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From worm to germ: Germ cell development and regeneration in planarians

Cited by 31 publications

References 139 publications

Hedgehog signaling is required for endomesodermal patterning and germ cell development in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

Hedgehog signaling is required for endomesodermal patterning and germ cell development in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

Single-cell analysis of Schistosoma mansoni identifies a conserved genetic program controlling germline stem cell fate

Single-cell analysis ofSchistosoma mansonireveals a conserved genetic program controlling germline stem cell fate

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