Cell position is more important than cell shape or age for the acquisition of cell identity in the brown alga Ectocarpus.
The brown alga Ectocarpus is a morphologically simple organism, with cells in the growing filament changing shape and position over time. In this study, we investigated the roles of cell shape, position, and age in establishing cell identity in Ectocarpus. Using laser capture microdissection, we isolated cells with different relative ages, shapes and positions from young sporophytes, and analysed their transcriptomes using differential RNA-seq to attribute a molecular signature to each cell. Five distinct cell transcriptomic signatures were found along the filament of WT Ectocarpus; the apical cell signature differed most from the others. To dissociate cell shape, age, and position, we analysed the transcriptomes of two mutants in which the relationships between these three parameters were disrupted. We found that the transcriptomic profile observed in the WT was significantly altered in these mutants. Overall, our data revealed that molecular cell signatures depend primarily on cell position along the filament and secondarily on cell shape.