Comparing dormancy in two distantly related tunicates reveals morphological, molecular, and ecological convergences and repeated co-option

Abstract Many asexually-propagating marine invertebrates can survive extreme environmental conditions by developing dormant structures, i.e., morphologically simplified bodies that retain the capacity to completely regenerate a functional adult when conditions return to normal. Here, we examine the environmental, morphological, and molecular characteristics of dormancy in two distantly related clonal tunicate species: Polyandrocarpa zorritensis and Clavelina lepadiformis. In both species, we report that the dormant structures are able to withstand harsher temperature and salinity conditions compared to the adult, and are the dominant forms these species employ to survive the colder winter months. By finely controlling the entry and exit of dormancy in laboratory-reared individuals, we were able to select and characterize the morphology of dormant structures associated with their transcriptome dynamics. In both species, we identified putative stem and nutritive cells in structures that resemble the earliest stages of asexual propagation. By characterizing gene expression during dormancy and regeneration into the adult body plan (i.e., germination), we observed that genes which control dormancy and environmental sensing in other metazoans, notably HIF-α and insulin signaling genes, are also expressed in tunicate dormancy. Germination-related genes in these two species, such as the retinoic acid pathway, are also found in other unrelated clonal tunicates during asexual development. These results are suggestive of repeated exaptation of conserved eco-physiological and regeneration programs for the origin of novel dormancy-germination processes across distantly related animal taxa.