an amphioxus gli gene reveals conservation of midline patterning and the evolution of hedgehog signalling diversity in chordates一个文昌鱼gli基因显示中线保护模式和刺猬信号多样性脊索动物的进化.pdfVIP

An Amphioxus Gli Gene Reveals Conservation of Midline Patterning and the Evolution of Hedgehog Signalling Diversity in Chordates 1 2 2 3 Sebastian M. Shimeld *, Marcel van den Heuvel , Rebecca Dawber , James Briscoe 1 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2 Medical Research Council Functional Genetics Unit, Department of Human Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 3 Developmental Neurobiology, National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom Background. Hedgehog signalling, interpreted in receiving cells by Gli transcription factors, plays a central role in the development of vertebrate and Drosophila embryos. Many aspects of the signalling pathway are conserved between these lineages, however vertebrates have diverged in at least one key aspect: they have evolved multiple Gli genes encoding functionally-distinct proteins, increasing the complexity of the hedgehog-dependent transcriptional response. Amphioxus is one of the closest living relatives of the vertebrates, having split from the vertebrate lineage prior to the widespread gene duplication prominent in early vertebrate evolution. Principal Findings. We show that amphioxus has a single Gli gene, which is deployed in tissues adjacent to sources of hedgehog signalling derived from the midline and anterior endoderm. This shows the duplication and divergence of the Gli gene family, and hence the origin of vertebrate Gli functional diversity, was specific to the vertebrate lineage. However we also show that the single amphioxus Gli gene produces two distinct transcripts encoding different proteins. We utilise three tests of Gli function to examine the transcription regulatory capacities of these different proteins, demonstrating one has activating activity