The moss Physcomitrella patens as a model species provides an important reference for early-diverging lineages of plants and the release of the genome in 2008 opened the doors to genome-wide studies. The usability of a reference genome greatly depends on the quality of the annotation and the availability of centralized community resources. Therefore, in the light of accumulating evidence for missing genes, fragmentary gene structures, false annotations and a low rate of functional annotations on the original release, we decided to improve the moss genome annotation. Here, we report the complete moss genome re-annotation (designated V1.6) incorporating the increased transcript availability from a multitude of developmental stages and tissue types. We demonstrate the utility of the improved P. patens genome annotation for comparative genomics and new extensions to the cosmoss.org resource as a central repository for this plant “flagship” genome. The structural annotation of 32,275 protein-coding genes results in 8387 additional loci including 1456 loci with known protein domains or homologs in Plantae. This is the first release to include information on transcript isoforms, suggesting alternative splicing events for at least 10.8% of the loci. Furthermore, this release now also provides information on non-protein-coding loci. Functional annotations were improved regarding quality and coverage, resulting in 58% annotated loci (previously: 41%) that comprise also 7200 additional loci with GO annotations. Access and manual curation of the functional and structural genome annotation is provided via the http://www.cosmoss.org
 model organism database. Comparative analysis of gene structure evolution along the green plant lineage provides novel insights, such as a comparatively high number of loci with 5’-UTR introns in the moss. Comparative analysis of functional annotations reveals expansions of moss house-keeping and metabolic genes and further possibly adaptive, lineage-specific expansions and gains including at least 13% orphan genes.

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4145921/file/4145932.pdf

Reannotation and extended community resources for the genome of the non-seed plant Physcomitrella patens provide insights into the evolution of plant gene structures and functions

dictyBase (http:// dictybase.org), the model organism database for Dictyostelium discoideum, includes the complete genome sequence and expression data for this organism. Relevant literature is integrated into the database, and gene models and functional annotation are manually curated from experimental results and comparative multigenome analyses. dictyBase has recently expanded to include the genome sequences of three additional Dictyostelids, and has added new software tools to facilitate multigenome comparisons. The Dicty Stock Center, a strain and plasmid repository for Dictyostelium research has relocated to Northwestern University in 2009. This allowed us integrating all Dictyostelium resources to better serve the research community. In this chapter, we will describe how to navigate the website and highlight some of our newer improvements.

One stop shop for everything Dictyostelium: dictyBase and the Dicty Stock Center in 2012.

The prokaryote signalling intermediate cyclic di-(3′:5′)-guanosine monophosphate is shown to be the morphogen responsible for stalk cell differentiation and, thus, the transition from slug migration to fructification in the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. Second messengers are small molecules that relay signals from receptors to the intended targets within a cell. Cyclic-di-GMP is a ubiquitous second messenger in bacteria — active in biofilm formation for instance — but until now had not been observed in eukaryotic cells. Zhi-hui Chen and Pauline Schaap now demonstrate a role for c-di-GMP in a eukaryote — Dictyostelium discoideum, an evolutionary ancient social amoeba that has become a model system for cell and developmental biology. The authors identify the long-sought signal that induces multicellular differentiation (stalk formation) in the amoeba as c-di-GMP. Its synthetic enzyme, diguanylate cyclase, is specifically expressed at the fruiting body tip, where stalk cells differentiate. Cyclic di-(3′:5′)-guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) is a major prokaryote signalling intermediate that is synthesized by diguanylate cyclases and triggers sessility and biofilm formation1,2. We detected the first eukaryote diguanylate cyclases in all major groups of Dictyostelia. On food depletion, Dictyostelium discoideum amoebas collect into aggregates, which first transform into migrating slugs and then into sessile fruiting structures3. These structures consist of a spherical spore mass that is supported by a column of stalk cells and a basal disk. A polyketide, DIF-1, which induces stalk-like cells in vitro, was isolated earlier4. However, its role in vivo proved recently to be restricted to basal disk formation5. Here we show that the Dictyostelium diguanylate cyclase, DgcA, produces c-di-GMP as the morphogen responsible for stalk cell differentiation. Dictyostelium discoideum DgcA synthesized c-di-GMP in a GTP-dependent manner and was expressed at the slug tip, which is the site of stalk cell differentiation. Disruption of the DgcA gene blocked the transition from slug migration to fructification and the expression of stalk genes. Fructification and stalk formation were restored by exposing DgcA-null slugs to wild-type secretion products or to c-di-GMP. Moreover, c-di-GMP, but not cyclic di-(3′:5′)-adenosine monophosphate, induced stalk gene expression in dilute cell monolayers. Apart from identifying the long-elusive stalk-inducing morphogen, our work also identifies a role for c-di-GMP in eukaryotes.

/pdf/the-prokaryote-messenger-c-di-gmp-triggers-stalk-cell-25bwmd9929.pdf

The prokaryote messenger c-di-GMP triggers stalk cell differentiation in Dictyostelium

dictyBase (http://dictybase.org) is the model organism database for the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. This contribution provides an update on dictyBase that has been previously presented. During the past 3 years, dictyBase has taken significant strides toward becoming a genome portal for the whole Amoebozoa clade. In its latest release, dictyBase has scaled up to host multiple Dictyostelids, including Dictyostelium purpureum [Sucgang, Kuo, Tian, Salerno, Parikh, Feasley, Dalin, Tu, Huang, Barry et al.(2011) (Comparative genomics of the social amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum and Dictyostelium purpureum. Genome Biol., 12, R20)], Dictyostelium fasciculatum and Polysphondylium pallidum [Heidel, Lawal, Felder, Schilde, Helps, Tunggal, Rivero, John, Schleicher, Eichinger et al. (2011) (Phylogeny-wide analysis of social amoeba genomes highlights ancient origins for complex intercellular communication. Genome Res., 21, 1882–1891)]. The new release includes a new Genome Browser with RNAseq expression, interspecies Basic Local Alignment Search Tool alignments and a unified Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search for cross-species comparisons.

/pdf/dictybase-2013-integrating-multiple-dictyostelid-species-3b02mf3my7.pdf

dictyBase 2013: integrating multiple Dictyostelid species

https://www.hsp-info.de/fileadmin/Projekte/eichinger2.pdf

Simple system--substantial share: the use of Dictyostelium in cell biology and molecular medicine.

Dictyostelium discoideum (DD), an extensively studied model organism for cell and developmental biology, belongs to the most derived group 4 of social amoebas, a clade of altruistic multicellular organisms. To understand genome evolution over long time periods and the genetic basis of social evolution, we sequenced the genomes of Dictyostelium fasciculatum (DF) and Polysphondylium pallidum (PP), which represent the early diverging groups 1 and 2, respectively. In contrast to DD, PP and DF have conventional telomere organization and strongly reduced numbers of transposable elements. The number of protein-coding genes is similar between species, but only half of them comprise an identifiable set of orthologous genes. In general, genes involved in primary metabolism, cytoskeletal functions and signal transduction are conserved, while genes involved in secondary metabolism, export, and signal perception underwent large differential gene family expansions. This most likely signifies involvement of the conserved set in core cell and developmental mechanisms, and of the diverged set in niche- and species-specific adaptations for defense and food, mate, and kin selection. Phylogenetic dating using a concatenated data set and extensive loss of synteny indicate that DF, PP, and DD split from their last common ancestor at least 0.6 billion years ago.

/pdf/phylogeny-wide-analysis-of-social-amoeba-genomes-highlights-3jd379dc8g.pdf

Nicholas R. Helps

Papers

Phylogeny-wide analysis of social amoeba genomes highlights ancient origins for complex intercellular communication