{"id":72895,"date":"2025-01-10T13:10:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T12:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=72895"},"modified":"2025-01-30T10:29:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T09:29:37","slug":"a-marine-worm-offers-clues-about-our-evolutionary-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/a-marine-worm-offers-clues-about-our-evolutionary-past\/","title":{"rendered":"A marine worm offers clues about our evolutionary past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

After more than 500 million years of existence as a species, the worm Platynereis dumerilii<\/em> still retains some ancient features that most other animals have moved on from over evolutionary time. Yet, this species has been able to survive and adapt to a variety of environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists in Detlev Arendt\u2019s group<\/a> at EMBL Heidelberg have tracked this marine worm over time and space, in a quest to learn the many lessons it offers about evolution. They recently took advantage of EMBL\u2019s Traversing European Coastlines (TREC)<\/a> project to broaden their research perspective, resulting in both interesting science and some incredible stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know which parts are new and which are old in us humans,\u201d said Phil Oel, Field Expedition scientist in the Arendt Group. \u201cSince we can\u2019t time travel, Platynereis<\/em> offers a good path backwards to compare and contrast. We can identify traits still there and infer basic traits \u2013 what the original ancestors looked like, so to speak.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, the scientists hope to uncover the species\u2019s missing biological history. For example, many brain parts and functions in these worms have retained relatively ancient forms, in contrast to other animals that have more drastically updated their brains to suit complex needs. This is what makes Platynereis dumerilii<\/em> special. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince these worms haven\u2019t had much pressure to change, their evolution has been slow,\u201d Tobias Gerber, a postdoc in the Arendt Group, said, \u201cHowever, we still don\u2019t know how they\u2019ve adapted to different environments \u2013 one of the questions we\u2019re researching.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Platynereis dumerilii are marine worms found across the European coasts. They are widely used to answer evolutionary questions. The males (shown on the left), have a frontal part with white sperm and a red rear due to blood vessels while the females (shown on the right) are initially transparent and acquire a yellow colour when their body is full of yellow eggs. Credit: Maj Britt\/EMBL Photolab and Eric Roettinger\/Tara Expeditions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Platynereis<\/em> worms live around the world and even though they look the same, they live differently. Normally, species specialise to live in a particular habitat and rarely tolerate changes in their environment. However, Platynereis<\/em> worms are able to deal with a diverse range of water salinities and temperatures. They can survive in polluted waters as well as in pristine seawater, which intrigues the scientists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to know what changed in Platynereis<\/em> so they could adapt to so many different environments,\u201d Victoria Witte, PhD student in the Arendt Group, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broadening the research scope<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Arendt Group\u2019s researchers joined the TREC expedition and collected Platynereis worms across European coasts. During the journey, Oel, Gerber, and Witte learnt how to adapt laboratory protocols to field sampling. Credit: Philip Oel and Patric Mueller\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the EMBL-led TREC expedition started its field sampling phase in early 2023, it offered the researchers an opportunity to gather Platynereis<\/em> from a variety of places along Europe\u2019s coasts. By collecting and comparing Platynereis<\/em> from different locations, the scientists could investigate how the worm populations evolved in different habitats and conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main challenge, however, came from the worm\u2019s unique mating ritual: a beautiful dance following the lunar cycle. On specific nights, female and male worms sense the presence of each other and begin swimming in circles, during which the eggs and sperm are released into the water and eggs get fertilised. Capturing these events can be quite tricky, resulting in several unsuccessful sampling missions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, after several night shifts, the researchers were able to catch Platynereis<\/em> worms right before mating. Afterwards, the worms were placed in a little ocean on the boat \u2013 a simple glass of water \u2013 in which the worms could mate. At this point, the clock stops for the worms since their lifespan comes to an end after releasing the sperm and eggs. In contrast, the clock starts running for scientists who are interested in studying the progeny at different ages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTREC allowed us to study the microevolution of Platynereis<\/em> and understand how the conditions close to the North and Baltic sea challenged the population compared to the Mediterranean sea, for example,\u201d Gerber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Oel and colleagues collected Platynereis during the night, since this is when these worms come to the water surface to mate. After several unsuccessful night shifts, the researchers were finally able to catch them! Credit: Patric Mueller\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Using tiny worms to study nervous system evolution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The size of this species also determines the type of analyses that scientists can do. Gerber\u2019s postdoctoral work has him comparing genes expressed in individual cells from across the whole organism, a technique called single-cell RNA sequencing. \u201cI study the worms at exactly six days of age since they are already tiny worms by then, equipped with the main organs and body parts that will be maintained until their adult age,\u201d he said. At six days of age, the worms are only a few micrometres long (one micrometre being about one-hundredth the thickness of human hair). This allows Gerber to profile all cell types across the whole worm body simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
After collecting the worms from the ocean, Tobias Gerber follows Platynereis mating. He needs to know the exact time the eggs are fertilised in order to study the worms later at six days of age. Credit: Antonella Ruggiero\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Witte, on the other hand, is interested in how the Platynereis<\/em> nervous system evolves. Her PhD project looks at cell types present in the worm\u2019s brain to get a better fundamental understanding of them and also to potentially compare them to species that are evolutionarily related. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring my first week at EMBL, I travelled to Villefranche-sur-Mer, close to Nice in France, to join TREC scientists and start collecting Platynereis<\/em> that were already around one year of age,\u201d Witte said. \u201cAt this time, the worms have specific behaviours and a capacity to learn, so we wanted to know how their brains adapted to different environments encountered at the Mediterranean versus the North sea.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Victoria Witte harvested adult Platynereis from microalgae collected from the European coasts. At this age, Platynereis can be found mainly in shallow vegetal habitats, and an attentive eye is needed to be able to capture this beautiful species. Credit: Philip Oel and Maj Britt\/EMBL and EMBL Photolab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both Gerber’s and Witte\u2019s research projects will help build the first atlas at cellular resolution for a whole Platynereis<\/em> animal, especially for the nervous system, including early development and differentiation stages. This work will allow, in the future, not only to select a cell anywhere in the worm body and know what genes that cell expresses but also the other way around: discover which cell expresses a specific group of genes. These discoveries, when merged with evolutionary biology studies, will make it possible to determine, for example, which cells are evolutionarily old or new in the worms\u2019 brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Tobias Gerber and Victoria Witte are working towards a common goal: to construct the first atlas with cellular resolution for a whole Platynereis worm. While Gerber focuses on the cells present in the organism at 6 days of age, Witte is studying the cells that constitute the adult brain. Credit: Kinga Lubowiecka\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before TREC, the scientists mostly did lab-controlled temporal evolutionary studies where they grew worms in the lab and studied different stages over time. \u201cTREC made spatial evolution studies possible,\u201d Oel said. \u201cAfter collecting samples in different locations, we can now merge both datasets and characterise Platynereis<\/em> across time and space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oel\u2019s own research looks at photoreceptors. \u201cThey are little cells that can detect light and then send this information to the brain,\u201d he explained. \u201cPlatynereis<\/em> need these cells. For example, they help indicate when the worms are too close to the sea surface, where they might be eaten by larger animals, and should therefore swim into deeper waters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During evolution, cells can change from one type to another. By analysing how photoreceptors in Platynereis<\/em> have evolved across time and space, Oel is trying to understand how organisms make new kinds of cells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Philip Oel\u2019s research is focused on specific cell types present on Platynereis \u2013 the photoreceptors. By understanding their functions in this worm, the scientist can infer how new cell types form in organisms. Credit: Kinga Lubowiecka\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

TREC\u2019s sampling phase ended this summer, and now the three scientists are ready to use the collected samples to construct a complete story of Platynereis dumerilli <\/em>evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the work of Victoria, Phil, and Tobias, we have now built new fantastic resources that enable us to explore the nervous system of Platynereis<\/em> at the cellular level,\u201d said Detlev Arendt, EMBL Group Leader. \u201cFrom this, we expect many more exciting insights into the evolution of the nervous system. This will be regarding both the origin of nervous systems and also their capacity to adapt to changing conditions, such as the challenges resulting from climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Arendt Group at EMBL Heidelberg focuses on mechanisms of evolution, studying Platynereis dumerilli \u2013 evolutionarily ancient marine worms found broadly along European coasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":72969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17591],"tags":[417,565,31,43,926],"embl_taxonomy":[19165,5140,9796],"class_list":["post-72895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-arendt","tag-developmental-biology","tag-evolution","tag-heidelberg","tag-platynereis-dumerilii","embl_taxonomy-arendt-group","embl_taxonomy-developmental-biology","embl_taxonomy-embl-heidelberg"],"acf":{"vfwp-news_embl_taxonomy":[19165,9796,5140],"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"article_intro":"

EMBL researchers study Platynereis dumerilii<\/em>, a worm that retains many features of ancient species, aiming to discover mechanisms of evolution<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"Arendt Group","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/arendt\/"},{"link_description":"Finding your way around Platynereis dumerilii ","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/finding-your-way-around-platynereis-dumerilii\/"},{"link_description":"Futures: Brain evolution ","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/futures-understanding-brain-evolution\/"}],"source_article":false,"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"None","article_translations":false,"languages":"","vf_locked":false},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"6a2f2be6-8bb7-4425-b318-5ed992f715cc\";i:2;s:36:\"47cb5a4f-aac5-44fa-af90-74e3791ed5b4\";}","parents":[],"name":["Arendt Group "],"slug":"arendt-group","description":"What > Developmental 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