Multicellular Developmental Diversity at the Root of Animals

In this talk, I will present how our lab is using Expansion Microscopy to capture novel ultrastructural details of microbial life cycles. I will also share recent insights into Ichthyosporeans, a lineage of protists closely related to animals, which exhibit diverse multicellular development strategies. These include species that undergo coenocytic development followed by cellularization, as well as others that develop through cleavage divisions to form spatially organized multicellular colonies. Our findings highlight the importance of studying diverse unicellular taxa to trace the origins of animal multicellularity, positioning Ichthyosporeans as a promising model for exploring the evolutionary roots of animal embryogenesis.

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