Work

Centrosome Loss in the Evolution of Planarians

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: The centrosome, a cytoplasmic organelle formed by cylinder-shaped centrioles surrounded by a microtubule-organizing matrix, is a hallmark of animal cells. The centrosome is conserved and essential for the development of all animal species described so far. Here, we show that planarians, and possibly other flatworms, lack centrosomes. In planarians, centrioles are only assembled in terminally differentiating ciliated cells through the acentriolar pathway to trigger the assembly of cilia. We identified a large set of conserved proteins required for centriole assembly in animals and note centrosome protein families that are missing from the planarian genome. Our study uncovers the molecular architecture and evolution of the animal centrosome and emphasizes the plasticity of animal cell biology and development.

Source: Science

DOI: 10.1126/science.1214457

Authors: Juliette Azimzadeh, Mei Lie Wong, Diane Miller Downhour, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Wallace F. Marshall

Institutions: University of California, San Francisco, University of Utah, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Language: English

Topic: Microtubule and mitosis dynamics

Subfield: Cell Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences