Biology subjects

Bertucci, P. Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Bertucci, P. Y..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

A whole-body cell type atlas mapped into an electron microscopy volume of an annelid worm

Differential gene expression establishes the distinct physiology and morphology of cell types in an animal body. Single-cell sequencing and volume EM represent milestones toward the characterization of cell types, yet are difficult to combine for a comprehensive view on the cellular genotype-phenotype link. Here, we map a whole-body single-cell transcriptome into the PlatyBrowser, a multimodal cellular atlas for the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii, and establish this combination uniquely for an entire animal. We learn that, in the 6-days-old worm, the majority of genes are tightly co-regulated to jointly implement one of eight major cellular morphotypes representing epidermis, gut, vasculature, myofibres, glia, motile cilia, glands, or neurons. Focusing on neurons, we uncover 14 families that by transcription factor identity, axonal projection, or sensory-secretory apparatus resemble conserved neuron types found in vertebrates, insects, or nematodes. We hypothesize that these existed in urbilaterian ancestors and represent the ancient core of nervous system centralization.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Whole-body integration of gene expression and single-cell morphology

Animal bodies are composed of hundreds of cell types that differ in location, morphology, cytoarchitecture, and physiology. This is reflected by cell type-specific transcription factors and downstream effector genes implementing functional specialisation. Here, we establish and explore the link between cell type-specific gene expression and subcellular morphology for the entire body of the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii. For this, we registered a whole-body cellular expression atlas to a high-resolution electron microscopy dataset, automatically segmented all cell somata and nuclei, and clustered the cells according to gene expression or morphological parameters. We show that collective gene expression most efficiently identifies spatially coherent groups of cells that match anatomical boundaries, which indicates that combinations of regionally expressed transcription factors specify tissue identity. We provide an integrated browser as a Fiji plugin to readily explore, analyse and visualise multimodal datasets with remote on-demand access to all available datasets.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Whole-body single-cell sequencing of the Platynereis larva reveals a subdivision into apical versus non-apical tissues

Animal bodies comprise a diverse array of tissues and cells. To characterise cellular identities across an entire body, we have compared the transcriptomes of single cells randomly picked from dissociated whole larvae of the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii1-4. We identify five transcriptionally distinct groups of differentiated cells that are spatially coherent, as revealed by spatial mapping5. Besides somatic musculature, ciliary bands and midgut, we find a group of cells located at the apical tip of the animal, comprising sensory-peptidergic neurons, and another group composed of non-apical neural and epidermal cells covering the rest of the body. These data establish a basic subdivision of the larval body surface into molecularly defined apical versus non-apical tissues, and support the evolutionary conservation of the apical nervous system as a distinct part of the bilaterian brain6.

evolutionary biology↗