Origin of metazoans

Chairperson: Evelyn HOULISTON
Sorbonne University / CNRS, UMR 7009, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-Mer, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
Phone: +33 (0)4 93 76 39 83
Email: houliston@obs-vlfr.fr

Vice-chairperson: Arnau SEBÉ-PEDRÓS
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) -PRBB building, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 93 316 01 46
Email: arnau.sebe@crg.eu

All living animals, the metazoans, are derived from a single ancestral multicellular assemblage that formed in the earth’s oceans hundreds of millions of years ago. The origin and the early evolution of this unique metazoan ancestor remain among the most fascinating questions in biology. A highly interdisciplinary emerging international community has started to build a new framework for understanding the origin of metazoans and will be brought together at this meeting.

The core issue of reconstructing the history of animal evolution will be illuminated by experts in both paleontology and molecular phylogeny. One crucial issue addressed at the meeting will be the topology of the metazoan tree at its base using data from outside the major clade Bilateria: the sponges, the ctenophores, the cnidarians and the placozoans. Also making important contributions to understanding of the transition to multicellularity are cell biologists, notably through analysis and comparison of individual cellular features such as cell polarity, cell-cell junctions and cellular symbioses. The cellular perspective is also coming to the fore via rapid developments in single cell transcriptome sequencing, allowing us to address how progressive specialization of individual cell types underpins animal evolution. 

Finally, an important source of insights into animal evolution are studies using experimental “model” species drawn from the non-bilaterian animal groups, as well as from outside the metazoans. Metazoan models covered at the meeting include the cnidarians Hydra, Hydractinia and Nematostella, the ctenophore Mnemiopsis, and several sponge species, as well as the enigmatic placozoan Trichoplax. Also considered will be the parallel evolutionary adventures in multicellularity of other eukaryotes including plants, fungi and brown algae.

Topics covered by the conference will thus be

• Lessons from non-metazoan eukaryotes: the protistan relatives of animals and other multicellular transitions. 
• Animal phylogenetic relationships
• Lessons from the fossil record
• Evolution of cellular features and cell types
• Lessons from non-bilaterian models:  ctenophores, sponges, placozoans and cnidarians

Invited speakers
(provisional titles)
 

• Session 1. Lessons from non-metazoan relatives
   

Thibaut Brunet (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, USA)
Cell contractility and the origin of animals

Susana Coelho (LBI2M, Roscoff,  France)
Origin and evolution of the sexes: lessons from non-metazoans cousins

László Nagy (Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary)
Repeated transitions in fungal complexity and the mechanisms of evolutionary convergence

Jill Harrison (University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom)
Key innovations in plants
 

• Session 2. Lessons from the fossil record
   

Abder El Albani (University of Poitiers, France)
Life history: A new perspective in the understanding of the emergence of multicellularity

Jean Vannier (University of Lyon 1, France)
Roots of animal life: contribution of fossils

Phil Donoghue (University of Bristol, United Kingdom)
Developmental biology of early animals and their near relatives
 

• Session 3. Animal evolutionary relationships and tree topology
   

Hervé Philippe (CBTM, Moulis, France)
Eukaryote phylogeny

Gert Wörheide (LMU, Munich, Germany)
The need for triangulation to reach consensus about non-bilaterian relationships

Casey Dunn (Yale University, New Haven, USA)
Where do phylogenomic analyses of the animal root stand

Camille Berthelot (IBENS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France)
Contributions of ancient polyploidization events to genome evolution and phenotypic novelty
 

• Session 4. Lessons from Placozoans
   

Frédérique Varoqueaux (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
Emergence of neuronal communication : Peptidergic signalling in placozoans

Harald Gruber-Vodicka (MPI, Bremen, Germany)
Placozoan symbioses

Tatiana Mayorova (NIH, Bethesda, USA)
Placozoan cell types - counterparts of cell types in other animal phyla?
 

• Session 5. Evolution of cells and cell types
   

Arnau Sebé Pedros (CRG, Barcelona, Spain)
Single-cell analysis of early metazoan cell type programs

Juliette Azimzadeh (Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France)
Evolutionary perspective on centriole polarisation in multiciliated cells

Detlev Arendt (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany)
The assembly of molecular machinery in metazoan cell type evolution

Kristin Tessmar-Raible (University of Vienna, Austria)
Timing physiology and behavior under the light of sun and moon
 

• Session 6. Lessons from Sponges and Ctenophores
   

Emmanuelle Renard (IMBE, Marseille, France)
Sponge genomes: Similarity in diversity and vice versa

Sally Leys (Univeristy of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada)
Connecting genomics and transcriptomics to sponge physiology

Bernie Degnan (Universty of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
Origin of animal multicellularity and genomic complexity

Ana Riesgo (Natural History Museum,  London, United Kingdom)
Bacteria and sex: The role of the microbiome in the sexual determination and strategy shifts of sponges

Joe Ryan (Whitney Laboratory, University of Florida, USA)
Ctenosis, paradigms, and the neural capacity of the last common animal ancestor

André Le Bivic (IBDM, Marseille, France)
Evolution of epithelia and junctions
 

• Session 7. Lessons from Cnidarians
   

Richard Copley (LBDV, Villefranche-sur-mer, France)
Genes of the cnidarian-bilaterian ancestor

Celina Juliano (University of Davis, California, USA)
Mechanisms of Development and Regeneration in Hydra

Matt Gibson (Stowers Institute, Kansas, USA)
The molecular logic of body plan segmentation: lessons from Nematostella

Ulrich Technau (University of Vienna, Austria)
The evolution of the germ layers and muscles - insights from the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

 

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

• 460 € for PhD students
• 800 € for other participants

Application for registration

The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should deposit online before the deadline: https://cjm1-2021.sciencesconf.org/

• their curriculum vitae
• the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
• the abstract of their presentation:

The abstract must respect the following template: TemplateResumeFile

• First line: title
• Second line: list of authors. Presenting author underlined
• Third line: author's addresses
• Fourth line: e-mail of the presenting author

Abstracts should be no longer than an A4 page and preferably be submitted in Times New Roman, font size 10 pts. No figures. ".docx" file format.

After the deadline, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.