The emergence and diversification of cell types is a leading factor in animal evolution. So far, systematic characterization of the gene regulatory programs associated with cell type specificity was limited to few cell types and few species. Here, we perform whole-organism single-cell transcriptomics to map adult and larval cell types in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis, a non-bilaterian animal with complex tissue-level body-plan organization. We uncover eight broad cell classes in Nematostella, including neurons, cnidocytes, and digestive cells. Each class comprises different subtypes defined by the expression of multiple specific markers. In particular, we characterize a surprisingly diverse repertoire of neurons, which comparative analysis suggests are the result of lineage-specific diversification. By integrating transcription factor expression, chromatin profiling, and sequence motif analysis, we identify the regulatory codes that underlie Nematostella cell-specific expression. Our study reveals cnidarian cell type complexity and provides insights into the evolution of animal cell-specific genomic regulation.
Pubmed ID: 29856957 RIS Download
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Software package for differential gene expression analysis based on the negative binomial distribution. Used for analyzing RNA-seq data for differential analysis of count data, using shrinkage estimation for dispersions and fold changes to improve stability and interpretability of estimates.
View all literature mentionsSoftware tool as catalog of inferred sequence binding preferences. Online library of transcription factors and their DNA binding motifs.
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