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The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution

The Cambrian explosion was a unique animal radiation ~540 million years ago that produced the full range of body plans across bilaterians. The genetic mechanisms underlying these events are unknown, leaving a fundamental question in evolutionary biology unanswered. Using large-scale comparative geno...

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Autores principales: Heger, Peter, Zheng, Wen, Rottmann, Anna, Panfilio, Kristen A, Wiehe, Thomas
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7535936/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32672535
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45530
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author Heger, Peter
Zheng, Wen
Rottmann, Anna
Panfilio, Kristen A
Wiehe, Thomas
author_facet Heger, Peter
Zheng, Wen
Rottmann, Anna
Panfilio, Kristen A
Wiehe, Thomas
author_sort Heger, Peter
collection PubMed
description The Cambrian explosion was a unique animal radiation ~540 million years ago that produced the full range of body plans across bilaterians. The genetic mechanisms underlying these events are unknown, leaving a fundamental question in evolutionary biology unanswered. Using large-scale comparative genomics and advanced orthology evaluation techniques, we identified 157 bilaterian-specific genes. They include the entire Nodal pathway, a key regulator of mesoderm development and left-right axis specification; components for nervous system development, including a suite of G-protein-coupled receptors that control physiology and behaviour, the Robo-Slit midline repulsion system, and the neurotrophin signalling system; a high number of zinc finger transcription factors; and novel factors that previously escaped attention. Contradicting the current view, our study reveals that genes with bilaterian origin are robustly associated with key features in extant bilaterians, suggesting a causal relationship.
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spelling pubmed-75359362020-10-07 The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution Heger, Peter Zheng, Wen Rottmann, Anna Panfilio, Kristen A Wiehe, Thomas eLife Evolutionary Biology The Cambrian explosion was a unique animal radiation ~540 million years ago that produced the full range of body plans across bilaterians. The genetic mechanisms underlying these events are unknown, leaving a fundamental question in evolutionary biology unanswered. Using large-scale comparative genomics and advanced orthology evaluation techniques, we identified 157 bilaterian-specific genes. They include the entire Nodal pathway, a key regulator of mesoderm development and left-right axis specification; components for nervous system development, including a suite of G-protein-coupled receptors that control physiology and behaviour, the Robo-Slit midline repulsion system, and the neurotrophin signalling system; a high number of zinc finger transcription factors; and novel factors that previously escaped attention. Contradicting the current view, our study reveals that genes with bilaterian origin are robustly associated with key features in extant bilaterians, suggesting a causal relationship. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2020-07-16 /pmc/articles/PMC7535936/ /pubmed/32672535 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45530 Text en © 2020, Heger et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Evolutionary Biology
Heger, Peter
Zheng, Wen
Rottmann, Anna
Panfilio, Kristen A
Wiehe, Thomas
The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution
title The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution
title_full The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution
title_fullStr The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution
title_full_unstemmed The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution
title_short The genetic factors of bilaterian evolution
title_sort genetic factors of bilaterian evolution
topic Evolutionary Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7535936/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32672535
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45530
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