Cas9-mediated excision of Nematostella brachyury disrupts endoderm development, pharynx formation and oral-aboral patterning
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT The mesoderm is a key novelty in animal evolution, although we understand little of how the mesoderm arose. brachyury, the founding member of the T-box gene family, is a key gene in chordate mesoderm development. However, the brachyury gene was present in the common ancestor of fungi and animals long before mesoderm appeared. To explore ancestral roles of brachyury prior to the evolution of definitive mesoderm, we excised the gene using CRISPR/Cas9 in the diploblastic cnidarian Nematostella vectensis. Nvbrachyury is normally expressed in precursors of the pharynx, which separates endoderm from ectoderm. In knockout embryos, the pharynx does not form, embryos fail to elongate, and endoderm organization, ectodermal cell polarity and patterning along the oral-aboral axis are disrupted. Expression of many genes both inside and outside the Nvbrachyury expression domain is affected, including downregulation of Wnt genes at the oral pole. Our results point to an ancient role for brachyury in morphogenesis, cell polarity and the patterning of both ectodermal and endodermal derivatives along the primary body axis.
Source: Development
DOI: 10.1242/dev.145839
Authors: Marc D. Servetnick, Bailey Steinworth, Leslie S. Babonis, David Simmons, Miguel Salinas-Saavedra, Mark Q. Martindale
Institutions: University of Washington Bothell, University of Florida
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: Gene regulatory network evolution and the origin of biological novelties, MUCH OF THE RECENT WORK ADDRESSING EARLY ANIMAL EVOLUTION FOCUSES ON DOCUMENTING CHANGES IN TWO RATHER EXTREME RANGES OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION, GEN, Functional Approaches to the Origin of the Bilaterally Symmetrical Body Plan in Animal Development
OpenAlex ID: W2734728802