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MRTF specifies a muscle-like contractile module in Porifera

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  • J. Colgren

    (University of Denver
    Sars International Center for Marine Molecular Biology)

  • S. A. Nichols

    (University of Denver)

Abstract

Muscle-based movement is a hallmark of animal biology, but the evolutionary origins of myocytes are unknown. Although believed to lack muscles, sponges (Porifera) are capable of coordinated whole-body contractions that purge debris from internal water canals. This behavior has been observed for decades, but their contractile tissues remain uncharacterized with respect to their ultrastructure, regulation, and development. We examine the sponge Ephydatia muelleri and find tissue-wide organization of a contractile module composed of actin, striated-muscle myosin II, and transgelin, and that contractions are regulated by the release of internal Ca2+ stores upstream of the myosin-light-chain-kinase (MLCK) pathway. The development of this contractile module appears to involve myocardin-related transcription factor (MRTF) as part of an environmentally inducible transcriptional complex that also functions in muscle development, plasticity, and regeneration. As an actin-regulated force-sensor, MRTF-activity offers a mechanism for how the contractile tissues that line water canals can dynamically remodel in response to flow and can re-form normally from stem-cells in the absence of the intrinsic spatial cues typical of animal embryogenesis. We conclude that the contractile module of sponge tissues shares elements of homology with contractile tissues in other animals, including muscles, indicating descent from a common, multifunctional tissue in the animal stem-lineage.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Colgren & S. A. Nichols, 2022. "MRTF specifies a muscle-like contractile module in Porifera," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31756-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31756-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lauren E. Cote & Eric Simental & Peter W. Reddien, 2019. "Muscle functions as a connective tissue and source of extracellular matrix in planarians," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Anthony K. Redmond & Aoife McLysaght, 2021. "Evidence for sponges as sister to all other animals from partitioned phylogenomics with mixture models and recoding," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
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