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PMID: 16837574 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Molecular evidence for deep evolutionary roots of bilaterality in animal development.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 103 ·No. 30 ·2006-07-25 ·Pages 11195-200

Matus DQ, Pang K, Marlow H, Dunn CW, Thomsen GH, Martindale MQ

Abstract

Nearly all metazoans show signs of bilaterality, yet it is believed the bilaterians arose from radially symmetric forms hundreds of millions of years ago. Cnidarians (corals, sea anemones, and "jellyfish") diverged from other animals before the radiation of the Bilateria. They are diploblastic and are often characterized as being radially symmetrical around their longitudinal (oral-aboral) axis. We have studied the deployment of orthologs of a number of family members of developmental regulatory genes that are expressed asymmetrically during bilaterian embryogenesis from the sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. The secreted TGF-beta genes Nv-dpp, Nv-BMP5-8, six TGF-beta antagonists (NvChordin, NvNoggin1, NvNoggin2, NvGremlin, NvFollistatin, and NvFollistatin-like), the homeodomain proteins NvGoosecoid (NvGsc) and NvGbx, and the secreted guidance factor, NvNetrin, were studied. NvDpp, NvChordin, NvNoggin1, NvGsc, and NvNetrin are expressed asymmetrically along the axis perpendicular to the oral-aboral axis, the directive axis. Furthermore, NvGbx, and NvChordin are expressed in restricted domains on the left and right sides of the body, suggesting that the directive axis is homologous with the bilaterian dorsal-ventral axis. The asymmetric expression of NvNoggin1 and NvGsc appear to be maintained by the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. The asymmetric expression of NvNoggin1, NvNetrin, and Hox orthologs NvAnthox7, NvAnthox8, NvAnthox1a, and NvAnthox6, in conjunction with the observation that NvNoggin1 is able to induce a secondary axis in Xenopus embryos argues that N. vectensis could possess antecedents of the organization of the bilaterian central nervous system.

MeSH Terms
Animals Body Patterning Central Nervous System/embryology Evolution, Molecular Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental Genome In Situ Hybridization Lithium Chloride/pharmacology Models, Anatomic Models, Biological Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Sea Anemones/embryology,genetics Xenopus
Chemicals
Lithium Chloride
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Matus David Q
Kewalo Marine Laboratory, Pacific Bioscience Research Center, University of Hawaii, 41 Ahui Street, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA.
Pang Kevin
Marlow Heather
Dunn Casey W
Thomsen Gerald H
Martindale Mark Q
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.0601257103
Published
2006-07-25
Epub
2006-00-12
Pages
11195-200
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC1544064
Subset
IM
Grants
NICHD NIH HHS · HD032429 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM076599 · United States
NICHD NIH HHS · R01 HD032429 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM076599-01A1 · United States
NICHD NIH HHS · R01 HD032429-08 · United States
Databases
GENBANK
DQ517920, DQ517921, DQ517922, DQ517923, DQ517924, DQ517925, DQ517926, DQ517927, DQ517928
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0601257103 PMC Full Text View journal details
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