Functional consequences of somatic polyploidy in development

Abstract

Polyploid cells contain multiple genome copies and arise in many animal tissues as a regulated part of development. However, polyploid cells can also arise due to cell division failure, DNA damage or tissue damage. Although polyploidization is crucial for the integrity and function of many tissues, the cellular and tissue-wide consequences of polyploidy can be very diverse. Nonetheless, many polyploid cell types and tissues share a remarkable similarity in function, providing important information about the possible contribution of polyploidy to cell and tissue function. Here, we review studies on polyploid cells in development, underlining parallel functions between different polyploid cell types, as well as differences between developmentally-programmed and stress-induced polyploidy.

Somatic polyploidy supports biosynthesis and tissue function by increasing transcriptional output

“…These events are developmentally programmed in many tissues, such as the insect salivary gland, mammalian liver, and plant leaf epidermis (Dej and Spradling, 1999; Roeder et al, 2012; Gentric and Desdouets, 2014). Several studies have shown that increased DNA content causally increases cell size (Unhavaithaya and Orr-Weaver, 2012; Hansson et al, 2020; Ma et al, 2022; Darmasaputra et al, 2024). Given this association between DNA content and cell size, polyploidization may enable an accompanied increase in biosynthetic capacity, but such a requirement has never been tested in vivo .…”

“…Several studies have shown that increased DNA content causally increases cell size (Unhavaithaya and Orr-Weaver, 2012;Hansson et al, 2020;Ma et al, 2022;Darmasaputra et al, 2024). Given this association between DNA content and cell size, polyploidization may enable an accompanied increase in biosynthetic capacity, but such a requirement has never been tested in vivo.…”