4.4 Article

Hidden cell diversity in Placozoa: ultrastructural insights from Hoilungia hongkongensis

Journal

CELL AND TISSUE RESEARCH
Volume 385, Issue 3, Pages 623-637

Publisher

SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00441-021-03459-y

Keywords

Cell types; Morphology; Physiology; Functional anatomy; Hoilungia hongkongensis; Trichoplax adhaerens; Placozoa; Signaling

Categories

Funding

  1. Human Frontiers Science Program [RGP0060/2017]
  2. National Science Foundation [1146575, 1557923, 1548121, 1645219]
  3. Russian Ministry of Science and High Education [075-15-2020-801]
  4. Swiss National Science Foundation [31003A_ 182732]
  5. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health [R01NS114491]
  6. European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant [764840]
  7. Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [31003A_182732] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)

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Placozoans are among the simplest free-living animals, with bodies consisting of three cell layers and roughly seven major cell types. They lack muscle cells and neurons but are able to move using ciliated surfaces and coordinate food intake. Recent research has revealed a higher level of cell-type diversity in placozoans than previously anticipated.
From a morphological point of view, placozoans are among the most simple free-living animals. This enigmatic phylum is critical for our understanding of the evolution of animals and their cell types. Their millimeter-sized, disc-like bodies consist of only three cell layers that are shaped by roughly seven major cell types. Placozoans lack muscle cells and neurons but are able to move using their ciliated lower surface and take up food in a highly coordinated manner. Intriguingly, the genome of Trichoplax adhaerens, the founding member of the enigmatic phylum, has disclosed a surprising level of genetic complexity. Moreover, recent molecular and functional investigations have uncovered a much larger, so-far hidden cell-type diversity. Here, we have extended the microanatomical characterization of a recently described placozoan species-Hoilungia hongkongensis. In H. hongkongensis, we recognized the established canonical three-layered placozoan body plan but also came across several morphologically distinct and potentially novel cell types, among them novel gland cells and shiny spheres-bearing cells at the upper epithelium. Thus, the diversity of cell types in placozoans is indeed higher than anticipated.

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