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Bayramov AV, Yastrebov SA, Mednikov DN, Araslanova KR, Ermakova GV, Zaraisky AG. Paired fins in vertebrate evolution and ontogeny. Evol Dev 2024; 26:e12478. [PMID: 38650470 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
The origin of paired appendages became one of the most important adaptations of vertebrates, allowing them to lead active lifestyles and explore a wide range of ecological niches. The basic form of paired appendages in evolution is the fins of fishes. The problem of paired appendages has attracted the attention of researchers for more than 150 years. During this time, a number of theories have been proposed, mainly based on morphological data, two of which, the Balfour-Thacher-Mivart lateral fold theory and Gegenbaur's gill arch theory, have not lost their relevance. So far, however, none of the proposed ideas has been supported by decisive evidence. The study of the evolutionary history of the appearance and development of paired appendages lies at the intersection of several disciplines and involves the synthesis of paleontological, morphological, embryological, and genetic data. In this review, we attempt to summarize and discuss the results accumulated in these fields and to analyze the theories put forward regarding the prerequisites and mechanisms that gave rise to paired fins and limbs in vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrey V Bayramov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Sergey A Yastrebov
- Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitry N Mednikov
- Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Karina R Araslanova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Galina V Ermakova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Andrey G Zaraisky
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Regenerative Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
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2
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Pratiwi HM, Hirasawa M, Kato K, Munakata K, Ueda S, Moriyama Y, Yu R, Kawanishi T, Tanaka M. Heterochronic development of pelvic fins in zebrafish: possible involvement of temporal regulation of pitx1 expression. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1170691. [PMID: 37691823 PMCID: PMC10483283 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1170691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Anterior and posterior paired appendages of vertebrates are notable examples of heterochrony in the relative timing of their development. In teleosts, posterior paired appendages (pelvic fin buds) emerge much later than their anterior paired appendages (pectoral fin buds). Pelvic fin buds of zebrafish (Danio rerio) appear at 3 weeks post-fertilization (wpf) during the larva-to-juvenile transition (metamorphosis), whereas pectoral fin buds arise from the lateral plate mesoderm on the yolk surface at the embryonic stage. Here we explored the mechanism by which presumptive pelvic fin cells maintain their fate, which is determined at the embryonic stage, until the onset of metamorphosis. Expression analysis revealed that transcripts of pitx1, one of the key factors for the development of posterior paired appendages, became briefly detectable in the posterior lateral plate mesoderm at early embryonic stages. Further analysis indicated that the pelvic fin-specific pitx1 enhancer was in the poised state at the larval stage and is activated at the juvenile stage. We discuss the implications of these findings for the heterochronic development of pelvic fin buds.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Mikiko Tanaka
- Department of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
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3
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DiFrisco J, Love AC, Wagner GP. The hierarchical basis of serial homology and evolutionary novelty. J Morphol 2023; 284:e21531. [PMID: 36317664 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Given the pervasiveness of gene sharing in evolution and the extent of homology across the tree of life, why is everything not homologous with everything else? The continuity and overlapping genetic contributions to diverse traits across lineages seem to imply that no discrete determination of homology is possible. Although some argue that the widespread overlap in parts and processes should be acknowledged as "partial" homology, this threatens a broad base of presumed comparative morphological knowledge accepted by most biologists. Following a long scientific tradition, we advocate a strategy of "theoretical articulation" that introduces further distinctions to existing concepts to produce increased contrastive resolution among the labels used to represent biological phenomena. We pursue this strategy by drawing on successful patterns of reasoning from serial homology at the level of gene sequences to generate an enriched characterization of serial homology as a hierarchical, phylogenetic concept. Specifically, we propose that the concept of serial homology should be applied primarily to repeated but developmentally individualized body parts, such as cell types, differentiated body segments, or epidermal appendages. For these characters, a phylogenetic history can be reconstructed, similar to families of paralogous genes, endowing the notion of serial homology with a hierarchical, phylogenetic interpretation. On this basis, we propose a five-fold theoretical classification that permits a more fine-grained mapping of diverse trait-types. This facilitates answering the question of why everything is not homologous with everything else, as well as how novelty is possible given that any new character possesses evolutionary precursors. We illustrate the fecundity of our account by reference to debates over insect wing serial homologs and vertebrate paired appendages.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alan C Love
- Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Günter P Wagner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.,Yale Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.,Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale Medical School, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
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4
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Mitchel K, Bergmann JM, Brent AE, Finkelstein TM, Schindler KA, Holzman MA, Jeannotte L, Mansfield JH. Hoxa5 Activity Across the Lateral Somitic Frontier Regulates Development of the Mouse Sternum. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:806545. [PMID: 35557949 PMCID: PMC9086245 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.806545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The skeletal system derives from multiple embryonic sources whose derivatives must develop in coordination to produce an integrated whole. In particular, interactions across the lateral somitic frontier, where derivatives of the somites and lateral plate mesoderm come into contact, are important for proper development. Many questions remain about genetic control of this coordination, and embryological information is incomplete for some structures that incorporate the frontier, including the sternum. Hox genes act in both tissues as regulators of skeletal pattern. Here, we used conditional deletion to characterize the tissue-specific contributions of Hoxa5 to skeletal patterning. We found that most aspects of the Hoxa5 skeletal phenotype are attributable to its activity in one or the other tissue, indicating largely additive roles. However, multiple roles are identified at the junction of the T1 ribs and the anterior portion of the sternum, or presternum. The embryology of the presternum has not been well described in mouse. We present a model for presternum development, and show that it arises from multiple, paired LPM-derived primordia. We show evidence that HOXA5 expression marks the embryonic precursor of a recently identified lateral presternum structure that is variably present in therians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kira Mitchel
- Department of Biology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Jenna M. Bergmann
- Department of Biology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Ava E. Brent
- Department of Biology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Ava E. Brent, ; Jennifer H. Mansfield,
| | - Tova M. Finkelstein
- Department of Biology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Kyra A. Schindler
- Department of Biology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Miriam A. Holzman
- Department of Biology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Lucie Jeannotte
- Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Biochemistry and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
- Centre de Recherche sur le Cancer de l'Université Laval, CRCHU de Québec‐Université, Laval (Oncology Axis), Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Jennifer H. Mansfield
- Department of Biology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Ava E. Brent, ; Jennifer H. Mansfield,
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Moriyama Y, Pratiwi HM, Ueda S, Tanaka M. Localization of β-Catenin and Islet in the Pelvic Fin Field in Zebrafish. Zoolog Sci 2019; 36:365-371. [PMID: 33319959 DOI: 10.2108/zs180185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In zebrafish, pelvic fin buds appear at 3 weeks post fertilization (wpf) during the larval to juvenile transition (metamorphosis), but their fate is already determined during embryogenesis. Thus, presumptive pelvic fin cells appear to memorize their positional information for three weeks, but no factors expressed in the pelvic fin field from the embryonic to the metamorphic stages have been identified. In mice, Islet1 is proposed to promote nuclear accumulation of β-catenin in the hindlimb field, which leads to the initiation of hindlimb bud outgrowth through activation of the Wnt/βcatenin pathway. Here, we examined the distribution of β-catenin and islet proteins in the pelvic fin field of zebrafish from the embryonic to the metamorphic stages. We found that transcripts of islet2a, but not islet1, are detected in the posterior lateral plate mesoderm, including the presumptive pelvic fin field, at the embryonic stage as well as in the pelvic fin bud at the metamorphic stage. Immunolocalization revealed that β-catenin and islet proteins, which are synthesized during the embryonic stage, remain in the cytoplasm of the presumptive pelvic fin cells during the larval stage, and are then translocated into the nuclei of the pelvic fin bud at the metamorphic stage. We propose that cytoplasmic localization of these proteins in the presumptive pelvic fin cells that remained during the larval stage may underlie the mechanism by which pelvic fin cells memorize their positional information from the embryonic stage to the metamorphic stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuuta Moriyama
- School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8501, Japan
| | - Hilda Mardiana Pratiwi
- School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8501, Japan
| | - Shogo Ueda
- School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8501, Japan
| | - Mikiko Tanaka
- School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8501, Japan,
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Jung H, Baek M, D'Elia KP, Boisvert C, Currie PD, Tay BH, Venkatesh B, Brown SM, Heguy A, Schoppik D, Dasen JS. The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking. Cell 2018; 172:667-682.e15. [PMID: 29425489 PMCID: PMC5808577 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2017] [Revised: 10/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Walking is the predominant locomotor behavior expressed by land-dwelling vertebrates, but it is unknown when the neural circuits that are essential for limb control first appeared. Certain fish species display walking-like behaviors, raising the possibility that the underlying circuitry originated in primitive marine vertebrates. We show that the neural substrates of bipedalism are present in the little skate Leucoraja erinacea, whose common ancestor with tetrapods existed ∼420 million years ago. Leucoraja exhibits core features of tetrapod locomotor gaits, including left-right alternation and reciprocal extension-flexion of the pelvic fins. Leucoraja also deploys a remarkably conserved Hox transcription factor-dependent program that is essential for selective innervation of fin/limb muscle. This network encodes peripheral connectivity modules that are distinct from those used in axial muscle-based swimming and has apparently been diminished in most modern fish. These findings indicate that the circuits that are essential for walking evolved through adaptation of a genetic regulatory network shared by all vertebrates with paired appendages. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heekyung Jung
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Myungin Baek
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Kristen P D'Elia
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Catherine Boisvert
- Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia; Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI), Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Peter D Currie
- Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI), Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; EMBL Australia, Melbourne Node, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Boon-Hui Tay
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Biopolis, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Byrappa Venkatesh
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Biopolis, Singapore 138673, Singapore; Department of Pediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore
| | - Stuart M Brown
- Applied Bioinformatics Laboratory, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Adriana Heguy
- Genome Technology Center, Division for Advanced Research Technologies, and Department of Pathology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - David Schoppik
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Jeremy S Dasen
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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Larouche O, Zelditch ML, Cloutier R. Fin modules: an evolutionary perspective on appendage disparity in basal vertebrates. BMC Biol 2017; 15:32. [PMID: 28449681 PMCID: PMC5406925 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0370-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2016] [Accepted: 03/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fishes are extremely speciose and also highly disparate in their fin configurations, more specifically in the number of fins present as well as their structure, shape, and size. How they achieved this remarkable disparity is difficult to explain in the absence of any comprehensive overview of the evolutionary history of fish appendages. Fin modularity could provide an explanation for both the observed disparity in fin configurations and the sequential appearance of new fins. Modularity is considered as an important prerequisite for the evolvability of living systems, enabling individual modules to be optimized without interfering with others. Similarities in developmental patterns between some of the fins already suggest that they form developmental modules during ontogeny. At a macroevolutionary scale, these developmental modules could act as evolutionary units of change and contribute to the disparity in fin configurations. This study addresses fin disparity in a phylogenetic perspective, while focusing on the presence/absence and number of each of the median and paired fins. RESULTS Patterns of fin morphological disparity were assessed by mapping fin characters on a new phylogenetic supertree of fish orders. Among agnathans, disparity in fin configurations results from the sequential appearance of novel fins forming various combinations. Both median and paired fins would have appeared first as elongated ribbon-like structures, which were the precursors for more constricted appendages. Among chondrichthyans, disparity in fin configurations relates mostly to median fin losses. Among actinopterygians, fin disparity involves fin losses, the addition of novel fins (e.g., the adipose fin), and coordinated duplications of the dorsal and anal fins. Furthermore, some pairs of fins, notably the dorsal/anal and pectoral/pelvic fins, show non-independence in their character distribution, supporting expectations based on developmental and morphological evidence that these fin pairs form evolutionary modules. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the pectoral/pelvic fins and the dorsal/anal fins form two distinct evolutionary modules, and that the latter is nested within a more inclusive median fins module. Because the modularity hypotheses that we are testing are also supported by developmental and variational data, this constitutes a striking example linking developmental, variational, and evolutionary modules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Larouche
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie et de Biologie évolutive, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Québec G5L 3A1 Canada
| | | | - Richard Cloutier
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie et de Biologie évolutive, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Québec G5L 3A1 Canada
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From shoot to leaf: step-wise shifts in meristem and KNOX1 activity correlate with the evolution of a unifoliate body plan in Gesneriaceae. Dev Genes Evol 2016; 227:41-60. [PMID: 27928690 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-016-0568-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2016] [Accepted: 11/24/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Typical dicots possess equal-sized cotyledons and leaf-bearing shoots topped with a shoot apical meristem (SAM), the source of lateral organs, and where KNOX1 homeobox genes act as key regulators. New World Gesneriaceae show typical cotyledons, whereas Old World Gesneriaceae show anisocotyly, the unequal post-germination growth of cotyledons, and include unifoliate (one-leaf) plants. One-leaf plants show an extremely reduced body plan: the adult above-ground photosynthetic tissue consisting of a single cotyledon, a macrocotyledon enlarged by the basal meristem (BM), but lacking a SAM. To investigate the origin and evolution of the BM and one-leaf plants, the meristem activity and KNOX1 SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM) expression in cotyledons and leaves were systematically studied by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization across the family Gesneriaceae, Jovellana in Calceolariaceae (sister family to Gesneriaceae), and Antirrhinum in Plantaginaceae, all families of order Lamiales (asterids), in comparison to Arabidopsis (Brassicales, rosids). In all examined Lamiales samples, unlike Arabidopsis, BM activity accompanied by STM expression was found in both cotyledons in early stages. Foliage leaves of Gesneriaceae and Jovellana also showed the correlation of BM and STM expression. An extension of BM activity was found following a phylogenetic trajectory towards one-leaf plants where it is active throughout the lifetime of the macrocotyledon. Our results suggest that KNOX1 involvement in early cotyledon expansion originated early on in the diversification of Lamiales and is proposed as the prerequisite for the evolution of vegetative diversity in Gesneriaceae. Step-wise morphological shifts, driven by transfers of meristematic activity, as evidenced by shifts in KNOX1 expression, may be one mechanism by which morphological diversity evolves in plants.
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Larouche O, Cloutier R, Zelditch ML. Head, Body and Fins: Patterns of Morphological Integration and Modularity in Fishes. Evol Biol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-015-9324-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Heude É, Shaikho S, Ekker M. The dlx5a/dlx6a genes play essential roles in the early development of zebrafish median fin and pectoral structures. PLoS One 2014; 9:e98505. [PMID: 24858471 PMCID: PMC4032342 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2014] [Accepted: 05/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Dlx5 and Dlx6 genes encode homeodomain transcription factors essential for the proper development of limbs in mammalian species. However, the role of their teleost counterparts in fin development has received little attention. Here, we show that dlx5a is an early marker of apical ectodermal cells of the pectoral fin buds and of the median fin fold, but also of cleithrum precursor cells during pectoral girdle development. We propose that early median fin fold establishment results from the medial convergence of dlx5a-expressing cells at the lateral edges of the neural keel. Expression analysis also shows involvement of dlx5a during appendage skeletogenesis. Using morpholino-mediated knock down, we demonstrate that disrupted dlx5a/6a function results in pectoral fin agenesis associated with misexpression of bmp4, fgf8a, and1 and msx genes. In contrast, the median fin fold presents defects in mesenchymal cell migration and actinotrichia formation, whereas the initial specification seems to occur normally. Our results demonstrate that the dlx5a/6a genes are essential for the induction of pectoral fin outgrowth, but are not required during median fin fold specification. The dlx5a/6a knock down also causes a failure of cleithrum formation associated with a drastic loss of runx2b and col10a1 expression. The data indicate distinct requirements for dlx5a/6a during median and pectoral fin development suggesting that initiation of unpaired and paired fin formation are not directed through the same molecular mechanisms. Our results refocus arguments on the mechanistic basis of paired appendage genesis during vertebrate evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Églantine Heude
- Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sarah Shaikho
- Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Marc Ekker
- Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Jung H, Mazzoni EO, Soshnikova N, Hanley O, Venkatesh B, Duboule D, Dasen JS. Evolving Hox activity profiles govern diversity in locomotor systems. Dev Cell 2014; 29:171-87. [PMID: 24746670 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2014.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2014] [Revised: 03/07/2014] [Accepted: 03/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The emergence of limb-driven locomotor behaviors was a key event in the evolution of vertebrates and fostered the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life. We show that the generation of limb-projecting lateral motor column (LMC) neurons in mice relies on a transcriptional autoregulatory module initiated via transient activity of multiple genes within the HoxA and HoxC clusters. Repression of this module at thoracic levels restricts expression of LMC determinants, thus dictating LMC position relative to the limbs. This suppression is mediated by a key regulatory domain that is specifically found in the Hoxc9 proteins of appendage-bearing vertebrates. The profile of Hoxc9 expression inversely correlates with LMC position in land vertebrates and likely accounts for the absence of LMC neurons in limbless species such as snakes. Thus, modulation of both Hoxc9 protein function and Hoxc9 gene expression likely contributed to evolutionary transitions between undulatory and ambulatory motor circuit connectivity programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heekyung Jung
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | | | - Natalia Soshnikova
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Sciences III, Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland; Institute of Molecular Biology, Ackermannweg 4, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Olivia Hanley
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Byrappa Venkatesh
- Comparative Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A(∗)STAR, Biopolis, Singapore 138673, Singapore; Department of Paediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore
| | - Denis Duboule
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Sciences III, Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland; School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jeremy S Dasen
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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Freitas R, Gómez-Skarmeta JL, Rodrigues PN. New frontiers in the evolution of fin development. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2014; 322:540-52. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2013] [Revised: 01/10/2014] [Accepted: 01/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Renata Freitas
- IBMC-Instituto de Biologia Celular e Molecular; Porto Portugal
| | | | - Pedro Nuno Rodrigues
- IBMC-Instituto de Biologia Celular e Molecular; Porto Portugal
- ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar; Universidade do Porto; Porto Portugal
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Nuño de la Rosa L, Müller GB, Metscher BD. The lateral mesodermal divide: an epigenetic model of the origin of paired fins. Evol Dev 2014; 16:38-48. [DOI: 10.1111/ede.12061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura Nuño de la Rosa
- Department of Theoretical Biology; University of Vienna; Althanstrasse 14 A-1090 Wien Austria
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research; Adolf-Lorenz-Gasse 2 3422 Altenberg Austria
| | - Gerd B. Müller
- Department of Theoretical Biology; University of Vienna; Althanstrasse 14 A-1090 Wien Austria
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research; Adolf-Lorenz-Gasse 2 3422 Altenberg Austria
| | - Brian D. Metscher
- Department of Theoretical Biology; University of Vienna; Althanstrasse 14 A-1090 Wien Austria
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