Looking outside the box: a comparative cross-kingdom view on the cell biology of the three major lineages of eukaryotic multicellular life

Abstract

Many cell biological facts that can be found in dedicated scientific textbooks are based on findings originally made in humans and/or other mammals, including respective tissue culture systems. They are often presented as if they were universally valid, neglecting that many aspects differ—in part considerably—between the three major kingdoms of multicellular eukaryotic life, comprising animals, plants and fungi. Here, we provide a comparative cross-kingdom view on the basic cell biology across these lineages, highlighting in particular essential differences in cellular structures and processes between phyla. We focus on key dissimilarities in cellular organization, e.g. regarding cell size and shape, the composition of the extracellular matrix, the types of cell–cell junctions, the presence of specific membrane-bound organelles and the organization of the cytoskeleton. We further highlight essential disparities in important cellular processes such as signal transduction, intracellular transport, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and cytokinesis. Our comprehensive cross-kingdom comparison emphasizes overlaps but also marked differences between the major lineages of the three kingdoms and, thus, adds to a more holistic view of multicellular eukaryotic cell biology.

Instantaneous change in hyphal diameter in basidiomycete fungi

“…Finally, the change in hyphae/cell diameter can occur instantly: within seconds, to a maximum of several minutes, due to the potential plasticity and elasticity of the cell wall, and other properties of the fungal cell. An example is the constricting rings of nematophagous fungi, which are capable of significantly increasing the diameter of the cells of ring in a few seconds and thus trapping the nematode (Chen et al, 2022; Panstruga et al, 2023). Fundamentally important for biology and for this article is another phenomenon: back in the 70s of the last century, it was noticed that hyperosmotic shock could cause a sharp but reversible shrinkage of cells in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other yeasts with a loss of volume up to 40% or more (Kopecká et al, 1973; Morris et al, 1986).…”