This work will explore two fundamental questions about multicellularity. First, are the early stages of development necessarily the hardest to change? This seems true in animals, but the project will test whether this pattern is general, using genomic data in a very different multicellular system, a social amoeba in which is normally a single-celled eukaryote, but upon starvation aggregates and differentiates into a structure with reproductive spores and sterile stalk cells. The second question is, how do multicellular organisms protect themselves from mutant cell lineages that replicate too fast? The project will use the novel strategy of constructing pseudo-organisms with artificial life cycles. By allowing these to evolve and monitoring cellular cooperation, the project will isolate factors that maintain multicellularity.
The most advanced organisms on earth, including people, animals, and plants, are all multicellular. Yet there is much that we do not understand about how and why multicellularity works. By focusing an unusual developmental system, the project will test how events at one time or place in development affect and constrain events at other times and places. They will also conduct the first rigorous tests of what life cycles protect against conflict among cells - cancer being a prominent example. The project will contribute to scientific training and will reach out to the public via websites, science cafes, and events for K-12 students.
