Evolutionary genomics of the emergence of brown algae as key components of coastal ecosystems

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.10.049
• Publication Date: 2024-11-20T15:40:51Z
• Authors: France Denoeud; Olivier Godfroy; Corinne Cruaud; Svenja Heesch; Zofia Nehr; Nachida Tadrent; Arnaud Couloux; Loraine Brillet-G...; Ludovic Delage; Dean Mckeown; Taizo Motomura; Duncan Sussfeld; Xiao Fan; Lisa Mazéas; Nicolas Terrapon; Josué Barrera-Red...; Romy Petroll; Lauric Reynes; Seok-Wan Choi; Jihoon Jo; Kavitha Uthanumal...; Kenny Bogaert; Céline Duc; Pélagie Ratchinski; Agnieszka Lipinska; Benjamin Noel; Eleanor A. Murphy; Martin Lohr; Ananya Khatei; Pauline Hamon-Giraud; Christophe Vieira; Komlan Avia; Svea Sanja Akerfors; Shingo Akita; Yacine Badis; Tristan Barbeyron; Arnaud Belcour; Wahiba Berrabah; Samuel Blanquart; Ahlem Bouguerba-C...; Trevor Bringloe; Rose Ann Cattolico; Alexandre Cormier; Helena Cruz de Ca...; Romain Dallet; Olivier De Clerck; Ahmed Debit; Erwan Denis; Christophe Destombe; Erica Dinatale; Simon Dittami; Elodie Drula; Sylvain Faugeron; Jeanne Got; Louis Graf; Agnès Groisillier; Marie-Laure Guill...; Lars Harms; William John Hatc...; Bernard Henrissat; Galice Hoarau; Chloé Jollivet; Alexander Jueterbock; Ehsan Kayal; Andrew H. Knoll; Kazuhiro Kogame; Arthur Le Bars; Catherine Leblanc; Line Le Gall; Ronja Ley; Xi Liu; Steven T. LoDuca; Pascal Jean Lopez; Philippe Lopez; Eric Manirakiza; Karine Massau; Stéphane Mauger; Laetitia Mest; Gurvan Michel; Catia Monteiro; Chikako Nagasato; Delphine Nègre; Eric Pelletier; Naomi Phillips; Philippe Potin; Stefan A. Rensing; Ellyn Rousselot; Sylvie Rousvoal; Declan Schroeder; Delphine Scornet; Anne Siegel; Leila Tirichine; Thierry Tonon; Klaus Valentin; Heroen Verbruggen; Florian Weinberger; Glen Wheeler; Hiroshi Kawai; Akira F. Peters; Hwan Su Yoon; Cécile Hervé; Naihao Ye; Eric Bapteste; Myriam Valero; Gabriel V. Markov; Erwan Corre; Susana M. Coelho; Patrick Wincker; Jean-Marc Aury; J. Mark Cock
• Keywords: Lineage (genetic); Brown algae; Comparative Genomics; Convergent evolution

Brown seaweeds are keystone species of coastal ecosystems, often forming extensive underwater forests, and under considerable threat from climate change. In this study, analysis multiple genomes has provided insights across the entire evolutionary history lineage, initial emergence, through later diversification brown algal orders, down to microevolutionary events at genus level. Emergence lineage was associated with a marked gain new orthologous gene families, enhanced protein domain rearrangement, increased horizontal transfer events, acquisition novel signaling molecules key metabolic pathways, latter notably related biosynthesis alginate-based extracellular matrix, halogen phlorotannin biosynthesis. We show that genome is tightly linked phenotypic divergence, including changes in life cycle strategy zoid flagellar structure. The study also showed integration large viral had significant impact on content throughout emergence lineage.