ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2011
Evolutionary changes in the notochord genetic toolkit: a comparative analysis of notochord genes in the ascidian Ciona and the larvacean Oikopleura.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Loss of collagen gene expression in the notochord of the tailless tunicate Molgula occulta.Integrative and comparative biology · 2023Article
- Gene expression in notochord and nuclei pulposi: a study of gene families across the chordate phylum.BMC ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- The Degenerate Tale of Ascidian Tails.Integrative and comparative biology · 2021Review
- The Evolutionary History of Ephs and Ephrins: Toward Multicellular Organisms.Molecular biology and evolution · 2020Article
- Tunicates: exploring the sea shores and roaming the open ocean. A tribute to Thomas Huxley.Open biology · 2015Review
- DNA interference: DNA-induced gene silencing in the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2015Article
- A new vetulicolian from Australia and its bearing on the chordate affinities of an enigmatic Cambrian group.BMC evolutionary biology · 2014Article
- An equatorial contractile mechanism drives cell elongation but not cell division.PLoS biology · 2014Article
- RNA interference in the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica reveals the function of the Brachyury gene.Development genes and evolution · 2013Article
- The identification of transcription factors expressed in the notochord of Ciona intestinalis adds new potential players to the brachyury gene regulatory network.Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists · 2011Article
- Involvement of the conserved Hox gene Antennapedia in the development and evolution of a novel trait.EvoDevo · 2011Article
- Tunicates push the limits of animal evo-devo.BMC biology · 2011Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe notochord is a defining feature of the chordate clade, and invertebrate chordates, such as tunicates, are uniquely suited for studies of this structure. Here we used a well-characterized set of 50 notochord genes known to be targets of the notochord-specific Brachyury transcription factor in one tunicate, Ciona intestinalis (Class Ascidiacea), to begin determining whether the same genetic toolkit is employed to build the notochord in another tunicate, Oikopleura dioica (Class Larvacea). We identified Oikopleura orthologs of the Ciona notochord genes, as well as lineage-specific duplicates for which we determined the phylogenetic relationships with related genes from other chordates, and we analyzed their expression patterns in Oikopleura embryos.
resultsOf the 50 Ciona notochord genes that were used as a reference, only 26 had clearly identifiable orthologs in Oikopleura. Two of these conserved genes appeared to have undergone Oikopleura- and/or tunicate-specific duplications, and one was present in three copies in Oikopleura, thus bringing the number of genes to test to 30. We were able to clone and test 28 of these genes. Thirteen of the 28 Oikopleura orthologs of Ciona notochord genes showed clear expression in all or in part of the Oikopleura notochord, seven were diffusely expressed throughout the tail, six were expressed in tissues other than the notochord, while two probes did not provide a detectable signal at any of the stages analyzed. One of the notochord genes identified, Oikopleura netrin, was found to be unevenly expressed in notochord cells, in a pattern reminiscent of that previously observed for one of the Oikopleura Hox genes.
conclusionsA surprisingly high number of Ciona notochord genes do not have apparent counterparts in Oikopleura, and only a fraction of the evolutionarily conserved genes show clear notochord expression. This suggests that Ciona and Oikopleura, despite the morphological similarities of their notochords, have developed rather divergent sets of notochord genes after their split from a common tunicate ancestor. This study demonstrates that comparisons between divergent tunicates can lead to insights into the basic complement of genes sufficient for notochord development, and elucidate the constraints that control its composition.
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