Open AccessLarger cells have relatively smaller nuclei across the Tree of Life
Author(s) -
Malerba Martino E.,
Marshall Dustin J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
evolution letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2056-3744
DOI - 10.1002/evl3.243
Subject(s) - cell size , nucleus , biology , evolutionary biology , tree of life (biology) , genome size , ecology , phylogenetics , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , genome , gene
Larger cells have larger nuclei, but the precise relationship between cell size and nucleus size remains unclear, and the evolutionary forces that shape this relationship are debated. We compiled data for almost 900 species – from yeast to mammals – at three scales of biological organisation: among‐species, within‐species, and among‐lineages of a species that was artificially selected for cell size. At all scales, we showed that the ratio of nucleus size to cell size (the ‘N: C’ ratio) decreased systematically in larger cells. Size evolution appears more constrained in nuclei than cells: cell size spans across six orders of magnitude, whereas nucleus size varies by only three. The next important challenge is to determine the drivers of this apparently ubiquitous relationship in N:C ratios across such a diverse array of organisms.