Evolution of axis specification mechanisms in jawed vertebrates: insights from a chondrichthyan.

The genetic mechanisms that control the establishment of early polarities and their link with embryonic axis specification and patterning seem to substantially diverge across vertebrates. In amphibians and teleosts, the establishment of an early dorso-ventral polarity determines both the site of axis formation and its rostro-caudal orientation. In contrast, amniotes retain a considerable plasticity for their site of axis formation until blastula stages and rely on signals secreted by extraembryonic tissues, which have no clear equivalents in the former, for the establishment of their rostro-caudal pattern. The rationale for these differences remains unknown. Through detailed expression analyses of key development genes in a chondrichthyan, the dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula, we have reconstructed the ancestral pattern of axis specification in jawed vertebrates. We show that the dogfish displays compelling similarities with amniotes at blastula and early gastrula stages, including the presence of clear homologs of the hypoblast and extraembryonic ectoderm. In the ancestral state, these territories are specified at opposite poles of an early axis of bilateral symmetry, homologous to the dorso-ventral axis of amphibians or teleosts, and aligned with the later forming embryonic axis, from head to tail. Comparisons with amniotes suggest that a dorsal expansion of extraembryonic ectoderm, resulting in an apparently radial symmetry at late blastula stages, has taken place in their lineage. The synthesis of these results with those of functional analyses in model organisms supports an evolutionary link between the dorso-ventral polarity of amphibians and teleosts and the embryonic-extraembryonic organisation of amniotes. It leads to a general model of axis specification in gnathostomes, which provides a comparative framework for a reassessment of conservations both among vertebrates and with more distant metazoans.

The mammalian Crx genes are highly divergent representatives of the Otx5 gene family, a gnathostome orthology class of orthodenticle-related homeogenes involved in the differentiation of retinal photoreceptors and circadian entrainment.

The mammalian Crx genes are highly divergent orthodenticle (otd)-related homeogenes that play important roles in the differentiation of retinal photoreceptors and the circadian entrainment. However, their evolutionary origin and orthological relationships with other otd-related genes remain unclear. An orthology relationship of these genes with the highly conserved Otx5 genes identified in fish and amphibians, and also expressed in the eye and epiphysis, has been proposed previously but remains controversial. To test this hypothesis, we have identified Crx genes in a wide range of mammals, including three marsupials, and Otx5-related genes in a lizard, a turtle, and two archosaurs (crocodile and chick), as well as in the pufferfish. Phylogenetic analyses of the coding sequences show that the mammalian Crx genes are orthologous to the Otx5-related genes isolated in other gnathostomes. They also indicate that a duplication event has taken place in actinopterygians, after the splitting of the Cladistia, and that a relaxation of the structural constraints acting on the gene coding region has occurred early in the mammalian lineage. This process may be linked not only to the loss of ancestral Otx5/Crx functions during gastrulation or in the retinal pigmented epithelium, but also to the evolution of photic entrainment mechanisms in mammals.

Embryonic expression of Tbx1, a DiGeorge syndrome candidate gene, in the lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis.

We report the embryonic expression in the lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis of Tbx1, the main candidate gene involved in DiGeorge/velo-cardio-facial syndrome (DGS/VCFS). From the end of neurulation to stage 26, Tbx1 becomes progressively expressed in all developing pharyngeal arches, as they form. Transcripts are mainly restricted to the mesodermal core and to the posterior pharyngeal endoderm, excluding ingressing neural crest cells. They are also present in the otic vesicle, in a ventral and posterior location. From a later stage (stage 27) onwards, additional expression domains in the head mesenchyme, later contributing to labial muscle precursors, and in the cloacal region, become visible. The comparison of these data with those reported in the chick and the mouse indicates a high conservation of Tbx1 expression in the pharyngeal arches among vertebrates.