Experimental evolution of an alternating uni- and multicellular life cycle in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

William C. Ratcliff (), Matthew D. Herron, Kathryn Howell, Jennifer T. Pentz, Frank Rosenzweig and Michael Travisano
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William C. Ratcliff: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Matthew D. Herron: The University of Montana
Kathryn Howell: Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota
Jennifer T. Pentz: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Frank Rosenzweig: The University of Montana
Michael Travisano: Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The transition to multicellularity enabled the evolution of large, complex organisms, but early steps in this transition remain poorly understood. Here we show that multicellular complexity, including development from a single cell, can evolve rapidly in a unicellular organism that has never had a multicellular ancestor. We subject the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to conditions that favour multicellularity, resulting in the evolution of a multicellular life cycle in which clusters reproduce via motile unicellular propagules. While a single-cell genetic bottleneck during ontogeny is widely regarded as an adaptation to limit among-cell conflict, its appearance very early in this transition suggests that it did not evolve for this purpose. Instead, we find that unicellular propagules are adaptive even in the absence of intercellular conflict, maximizing cluster-level fecundity. These results demonstrate that the unicellular bottleneck, a trait essential for evolving multicellular complexity, can arise rapidly via co-option of the ancestral unicellular form.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3742

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