imageimageA multiomics study of zebrafish spermatogenesis integrating scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, and base-resolution DNA methylomes defines the chromatin and transcriptional states of germ cells, revealing the regulatory dynamics of this continuous ...

Animal cell types are defined by differential access to genomic information, a process orchestrated by the combinatorial activity of transcription factors that bind to cis -regulatory elements (CREs) to control gene expression. However, the regulatory logic and specific gene networks that define cell identities remain poorly resolved across the animal tree of life. As early-branching metazoans, cnidarians can offer insights into the early evolution of cell type-specific genome regulation. Here, we profiled chromatin accessibility in 60,000 cells from whole adults and gastrula-stage embryos of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. We identified 112,728 CREs and quantified their activity across cell types, revealing pervasive combinatorial enhancer usage and distinct promoter architectures. To decode the underlying regulatory grammar, we trained sequence-based models predicting CRE accessibility and used these models to infer ontogenetic relationships among cell types. By integrating sequence motifs, transcription factor expression, and CRE accessibility, we systematically reconstructed the gene regulatory networks that define cnidarian cell types. Our results reveal the regulatory complexity underlying cell differentiation in a morphologically simple animal and highlight conserved principles in animal gene regulation. This work provides a foundation for comparative regulatory genomics to understand the evolutionary emergence of animal cell type diversity. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, ERC-StG 851647 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, https://ror.org/05r0vyz12, PID2021-124757NB-I00, FPI Severo Ochoa PhD fellowship European Union, https://ror.org/019w4f821, Marie Skłodowska-Curie INTREPiD co-fund agreement 75442, Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement 101031767

The physical organization of the genome in non-bilaterian animals and their closest unicellular relatives is characterized; comparative analysis shows chromatin looping is a conserved feature of ...

Home Office told Manikarnika Dutta to quit Britain for spending too many days abroad for study

The root of the eukaryote Tree of Life is estimated from a new, larger dataset of mitochondrial proteins including all known eukaryotic supergroups, showing it lies between two multi-supergroup assemb...

Spermatogenesis is the biological process by which male sperm cells (spermatozoa) are produced in the testes. Beyond facilitating the transmission of genetic information, spermatogenesis also provides...

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Here they generate a cell type atlas of the colonial cnidarian Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, which reveals that distinct colony parts are mostly made from unique combinations of shared cell types, an...

Here they generate a cell type atlas of the colonial cnidarian Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, which reveals that distinct colony parts are mostly made from unique combinations of shared cell types, an...