Molecular characterization of cell types in the squid Loligo vulgaris
- Universität Fribourg, Switzerland
- University of Bern, Switzerland
Abstract
Cephalopods are set apart from other mollusks by their advanced behavioral abilities and by the complexity of their nervous systems. Because of the great evolutionary distance that separates vertebrates from cephalopods, it is evident that higher cognitive features have evolved separately in these clades despite the similarities that they share. Alongside their complex behavioral abilities, cephalopods have evolved specialized cells and tissues, such as the chromatophores for camouflage or suckers to grasp prey. Despite significant progress in genome and transcriptome sequencing, the molecular identities of cell types in cephalopods remain largely unknown. We here combine single-cell transcriptomics with in situ gene expression analysis to uncover cell type diversity in the European squid Loligo vulgaris. We describe cell types that are conserved with other phyla such as neurons, muscles, or connective tissues but also cephalopod-specific cells, such as chromatophores or sucker cells. Moreover, we investigate major components of the squid nervous system including progenitor and developing cells, differentiated cells of the brain and optic lobes as well as sensory systems of the head. Our study provides a molecular assessment for conserved and novel cell types in cephalopods and a framework for mapping the nervous system of L. vulgaris.
Data availability
Sequencing data have been deposited in GEO under accession code GSE200108
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Molecular characterization of cell types in the squid Loligo vulgarisNCBI Gene Expression Omnibus, GSE200108.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (310030_188471)
- Simon G Sprecher
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (IZCOZ0_182957)
- Simon G Sprecher
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2023, Duruz et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Molecular characterization of cell types in the squid Loligo vulgaris
eLife 12:e80670.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.80670
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