Differential Gene Expression Between Polymorphic Zooids of the Marine Bryozoan Bugulina stolonifera

Abstract Bryozoans are a diverse phylum of marine and freshwater colonial invertebrates containing approximately 6,300 described living species. Bryozoans grow by budding new physiologically connected colony members (zooids) from a founding individual that forms from a metamorphosed larva. In some species these zooids come in different shapes and sizes and are specialized to serve different tasks within the colony. A complex interaction of genotype, environment, and developmental pathway shapes zooid fate, however, the specific mechanisms underlying the establishment of this division of labor remain unknown. Here, the first characterization of differential gene expression between polymorphic zooids of a bryozoan colony is presented. The development of different zooid types of lab-cultured Bugulina stolonifera colonies including feeding autozooids, avicularia (derived non-feeding zooids that are homologous to feeding autozooids but shaped like a bird’s beak), and rhizoids (a branching network of non-feeding anchoring zooids) was explored using RNA sequencing, de novo transcriptome assembly, and differential gene expression analyses. High throughput sequencing of cDNA libraries yielded an average of 14.9 ± 1.3 (SE) million high-quality paired-end reads per sample. Data for the first de novo transcriptome assemblies of B. stolonifera and the first characterization of genes involved in the formation and maintenance of zooid types within a bryozoan colony are presented. In a comparison between autozooid and avicularium tissues, 1,097 significant differentially expressed genes were uncovered. This work provides a much-needed foundation for understanding the mechanisms involved in the development of polymorphic zooids and the establishment of division of labor in bryozoans.