Autonomous Specification of Shell-Forming Cells Discovered in Limpets.

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Tsukuba has uncovered new insights into the development of shell-forming cells in mollusks, specifically limpets. The research, published in the journal Development, challenges long-held beliefs about how these cells acquire their developmental fate.

Previous theories suggested that the fate of shell-forming cells in mollusks was determined through interactions with neighboring cell types, such as endoderms. However, this new research demonstrates that in limpets, the developmental fate of these cells is specified autonomously, independent of neighboring cell lineages.

Mollusks, including bivalves like clams and gastropods such as snails, display a wide range of shell morphologies, making them a valuable subject for studying the mechanisms behind shell formation. The developmental processes that guide the differentiation of shell-forming cells, however, have remained poorly understood, with conflicting hypotheses still unaddressed in the scientific community.

In their study, the researchers focused on the gastropod Nipponacmea fuscoviridis, a species of limpet, to investigate how shell-forming cells develop. Using advanced techniques like single-cell transcriptome analysis and gene expression profiling, they identified at least three distinct types of shell-forming cells at the early larval stage, each expressing specific sets of genes.

The researchers then isolated blastomeres—cells resulting from the initial division of a fertilized egg—and cultured them separately from other cell types. Their findings revealed that the development of all three cell types proceeded as expected, even without interactions with other cell lineages, overturning the previous assumption that such interactions were essential for shell-forming cell specification.

This discovery opens up new avenues for exploring how the mechanisms of cell specification in mollusks operate autonomously. The researchers also plan to further investigate the evolutionary adaptations that have shaped the diverse shell morphologies seen across different mollusk species, providing a broader understanding of how animals, in general, have evolved such specialized structures over time.

The study’s findings could not only contribute to a deeper understanding of mollusk biology but also have broader implications for developmental biology and evolutionary theory.

Source:https://phys.org/news/2025-04-shell-cells-limpets-autonomously.html

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