cis -regulatory change associated with snake body plan evolution
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: A goal of evolutionary developmental biology is to understand the genetic changes, and subsequent changes in developmental programs, which underlie body plan evolution. In PNAS, Guerreiro et al. (1) characterize genetic variation that likely contributes to the homogenization of the vertebral column in snakes. The authors identify a polymorphism in the regulatory region of the Myogenic factor 5 (Myf5) gene, which in turn indirectly regulates rib growth. Guerreiro et al. elegantly show that the snake-specific variation in the Myf5 enhancer blocks interaction with a rib-repressing Hox protein, but preserves interaction with a second, rib-promoting Hox protein. This variation is expected to permit “lumbar”-level ribs, which are blocked in most tetrapods, to develop in snakes.
Author: Jennifer H. Mansfield
Institutions: Columbia University, Barnard College
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2072417974