The expression of a hunchback ortholog in the polychaete annelid Platynereis dumerilii suggests an ancestral role in mesoderm development and neurogenesis

Orthologs of the Drosophila gap gene hunchback have been isolated so far only in protostomes. Phylogenetic analysis of recently available genomic data allowed us to confirm that hunchback genes are widely found in protostomes (both lophotrochozoans and ecdysozoans). In contrast, no unequivocal hunch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Development genes and evolution 2006-12, Vol.216 (12), p.821-828
Main Authors: Kerner, Pierre, Zelada González, Fabiola, Le Gouar, Martine, Ledent, Valérie, Arendt, Detlev, Vervoort, Michel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Annelida - embryology
Annelida - genetics
Annelida - metabolism
Base Sequence
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Biodiversity
Body Patterning - genetics
Development Biology
DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics
Drosophila Proteins - genetics
Embryo, Nonmammalian
Embryology and Organogenesis
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Genomic analysis
Life Sciences
Mesoderm
Mesoderm - metabolism
Models, Biological
Molecular Sequence Data
Neurogenesis
Neurons - metabolism
Phylogeny
Platynereis dumerilii
Populations and Evolution
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Transcription Factors - genetics
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Summary:Orthologs of the Drosophila gap gene hunchback have been isolated so far only in protostomes. Phylogenetic analysis of recently available genomic data allowed us to confirm that hunchback genes are widely found in protostomes (both lophotrochozoans and ecdysozoans). In contrast, no unequivocal hunchback gene can be found in the genomes of deuterostomes and non-bilaterians. We cloned hunchback in the marine polychaete annelid Platynereis dumerilii and analysed its expression during development. In this species, hunchback displays an expression pattern indicative of a role in mesoderm formation and neurogenesis, and similar to the expression found for hunchback genes in arthropods. These data suggest altogether that these functions are ancestral to protostomes.
ISSN:0949-944X
1432-041X
DOI:10.1007/s00427-006-0100-9