ON THE EVOLUTION OF DIFFERENTIATED MULTICELLULARITY

@inproceedings{Willensdorfer2009ONTE,
  title={ON THE EVOLUTION OF DIFFERENTIATED MULTICELLULARITY},
  author={Martin Willensdorfer},
  booktitle={Evolution; international journal of organic evolution},
  year={2009}
}
Most conspicuous organisms are multicellular and most multicellular organisms develop somatic cells to perform specific, nonre-productive tasks. The ubiquity of this division of labor suggests that it is highly advantageous. In this article I present a model to study the evolution of specialized cells. The model allows for unicellular and multicellular organisms that may contain somatic (terminally differentiated) cells. Cells contribute additively to a quantitative trait. The fitness of the… 
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45 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
2
Background Citations
22
Methods Citations
1
Results Citations
2

45 Citations

Evolution of reproductive development in the volvocine algae
TLDR
It is learned from volvocine algae that the evolutionary transition to complex, multicellular life is probably much easier to achieve than is commonly believed.
Multicellularity makes somatic differentiation evolutionarily stable
TLDR
Multicellular, soma-producing strains resist invasion by nondifferentiating mutants that overtake unicellular populations, supporting the theory that somatic differentiation is stabilized by population structure imposed by multicellularity.
Division of labour and the evolution of multicellularity
TLDR
A quantitative model is developed that shows that a multicellular form emerges from genetically identical unicellular ancestors when the compartmentalization of poorly compatible physiological processes into component cells of an aggregate produces a fitness advantage.
Experimental evolution of multicellularity
TLDR
Experimental evolution shows that key aspects of multicellular complexity, a subject of central importance to biology, can readily evolve from unicellular eukaryotes.
A General Allometric and Life-History Model for Cellular Differentiation in the Transition to Multicellularity
TLDR
A model inspired by the volvocine green algae that explains the dynamics involved in the unicellular-multicellular transition using life-history theory and allometry is presented and it is argued that germ-soma separation may have evolved to counteract the increasing costs and requirements of larger multicellular colonies.
Selection for synchronized cell division in simple multicellular organisms
The Multiple Origins of Complex Multicellularity
TLDR
Proliferation of gene families for transcription factors and cell signals accompany the key functional innovation of complex multicellular clades: differentiated cells and tissues for the bulk transport of oxygen, nutrients, and molecular signals that enable organisms to circumvent the physical limitations of diffusion.
The evolution of germ-soma specialization under different genetic and environmental effects
TLDR
Through analytical theory and evolutionary agent-based modeling it is shown that the shape of the trade-off relation between somatic and reproductive functions, the type and extent of variation in within-colony microenvironment, and, in some cases, the number of genes involved, are important predictors of the extent of germ-soma specialization.
Geometry Shapes Evolution of Early Multicellularity
TLDR
A mathematical model of the cellular arrangement within snowflake yeast clusters reveals that the mechanism of cell death and the geometry of the snowflake interact in complex, evolutionarily important ways, and gains insight into the initial emergence of reproductive division of labor during an evolutionary transition in individuality.
Predator Escape: An Ecologically Realistic Scenario for the Evolutionary Origins of Multicellularity
TLDR
A quick (one or two 50-min sessions) and easy laboratory in which students experimentally examine the hypothesis that small-mouthed predators can select for multicellularity, demonstrating the efficacy of hands-on curricula in teaching fundamental concepts about multi-cellularity, as well as evolution in general.
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