BrownLincs

Brown algae (Phaeophyceae), or brown seaweeds, are multicellular macroalgae that belong to the Stramenopile supergroup, which also includes microalgae (e.g., diatoms) as well as heterotrophic protists (e.g., oomycetes). Along with animals and land plants, brown algae are one of only five lineages that have evolved complex multicellularity. The evolutionary process leading to multicellularity in brown algae has been quite distinct fro those of the other lineages, leading to the acquisition of some unique characteristics. The BrownLincs project aims to deepen our understanding of the molecular processes underlying brown algae development and acquisition of multicellularity through an analysis of the functional regulatory roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), key actors in cellular regulation across the Eukarya domain of life. The project is employing a multidisciplinary approach involving comparative genomics and trancriptomics, computational biology, functional biology and epigenomics to characterize how lncRNAs control gene expression programs that define distinct development states in brown algae. Ectocarpus sp. and Saccharina sp. are being studied as model systems since they show distinct developmental morphologies but are evolutionary relatively close. The BrownLincs project will provide new knowledge about the regulation of brown algal development and the acquisition of complex multicellularity. 

Partners:

IBENS, Paris: Ahmed Debit, Charlotte Nef, Aude Battistella, Helena Cruz de Carvalho

UMR8227, Roscoff: Serena Testi, Delphine Scornet, Yacine Badis, Olivier Godfroy, Elodie Roland, J. Mark Cock

IGDR, Rennes: Aurore Besson, Edouard Cadieu, Stéphanie Mottier, Thomas Derrien