A single-cell atlas of West African lungfish respiratory system reveals evolutionary adaptations to terrestrialization

The six species of lungfish possess both lungs and gills and are the closest extant relatives of tetrapods. Here, we report a single-cell transcriptome atlas of the West African lungfish ( Protopterus annectens ). This species manifests the most extreme form of terrestrialization, a life history str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2023-09, Vol.14 (1), p.5630-15, Article 5630
Main Authors: Zhang, Ruihua, Liu, Qun, Pan, Shanshan, Zhang, Yingying, Qin, Yating, Du, Xiao, Yuan, Zengbao, Lu, Yongrui, Song, Yue, Zhang, Mengqi, Zhang, Nannan, Ma, Jie, Zhang, Zhe, Jia, Xiaodong, Wang, Kun, He, Shunping, Liu, Shanshan, Ni, Ming, Liu, Xin, Xu, Xun, Yang, Huanming, Wang, Jian, Seim, Inge, Fan, Guangyi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Adaptation
Biological evolution
Dormancy
Ecological adaptation
Evolution
Gene expression
Gene sequencing
Gills
Homology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Life history
Lungs
multidisciplinary
Phenotypes
Respiratory system
Salmon
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Swim bladder
Transcriptomes
Vertebrates
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Summary:The six species of lungfish possess both lungs and gills and are the closest extant relatives of tetrapods. Here, we report a single-cell transcriptome atlas of the West African lungfish ( Protopterus annectens ). This species manifests the most extreme form of terrestrialization, a life history strategy to survive dry periods that can last for years, characterized by dormancy and reversible adaptive changes of the gills and lungs. Our atlas highlights the cell type diversity of the West African lungfish, including gene expression consistent with phenotype changes of terrestrialization. Comparison with terrestrial tetrapods and ray-finned fishes reveals broad homology between the swim bladder and lung cell types as well as shared and idiosyncratic changes of the external gills of the West African lungfish and the internal gills of Atlantic salmon. The single-cell atlas presented here provides a valuable resource for further exploration of the respiratory system evolution in vertebrates and the diversity of lungfish terrestrialization. The water-to-land transition of vertebrates is a landmark event in evolutionary history. This work utilizes single-cell RNA sequencing to explore the adaptations in African lungfish lungs and gills to terrestrialization.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-41309-3