Multicellularity arose several times in the evolution of eukaryotes (Response to DOI 10.1002/bies.201100187)

The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium has cell‐cell connections similar in structure, function, and underlying molecular mechanisms to animal epithelial cells. These similarities form the basis for the proposal that multicellularity is ancestral to the clade containing animals, fungi, and Amoebozoa (including Dictyostelium): Amorphea (formerly “unikonts”). This hypothesis is intriguing and if true could precipitate a paradigm shift. However, phylogenetic analyses of two key genes reveal patterns inconsistent with a single origin of multicellularity. A single origin in Amorphea would also require loss of multicellularity in each of the many unicellular lineages within this clade. Further, there are numerous other origins of multicellularity within eukaryotes, including three within Amorphea, that are not characterized by these structural and mechanistic similarities. Instead, convergent evolution resulting from similar selective pressures for forming multicellular structures with motile and differentiated cells is the most likely explanation for the observed similarities between animal and dictyostelid cell‐cell connections.

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