Aggregative multicellularity, resulting in formation of a spore-bearing fruiting body, evolved
at least six times independently amongst both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Amongst …

Multicellularity has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. One of the most
fundamental distinctions among multicellular organisms is their developmental mode …

Amoebozoa is the eukaryotic supergroup sister to Obazoa, the lineage that contains the
animals and Fungi, as well as their protistan relatives, and the breviate and apusomonad …

Traditional morphology-based taxonomy of dictyostelids is rejected by molecular phylogeny.
A new classification is presented based on monophyletic entities with consistent and strong …

Background Many microbial phenotypes are the product of cooperative interactions among
cells, but their putative fitness benefits are often not well understood. In the cellular slime …

The evolution of multicellularity enabled specialization of cells, but required novel signalling
mechanisms for regulating cell differentiation. Early multicellular organisms are mostly …

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important and ubiquitous regulators of gene expression in both
plants and animals. They are thought to have evolved convergently in these lineages and …

Myxobacteria and dictyostelids are prokaryotic and eukaryotic multicellular lineages,
respectively, that after nutrient depletion aggregate and develop into structures called …

The Dictyostelid social amoebas are a popular model system for cell-and developmental
biology and for evolution of sociality. Small subunit (SSU) ribosomal DNA-based …

The well-orchestrated multicellular life cycle of Dictyostelium discoideum has fascinated
biologists for over a century. Self-organisation of its amoebas into aggregates, migrating …