Xenacoelomorpha survey reveals that all 11 animal homeobox gene classes were present in the first bilaterians
- Brauchle, Michael Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Department of Biology, Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Switzerland
- Bilican, Adem Department of Biology, Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit, University of Bern, Switzerland
- Eyer, Claudia Department of Biology, Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit, University of Bern, Switzerland
- Bailly, Xavier Station Biologique de Roscoff, France
- Martínez, Pedro Departament de Genètica, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain - Institut Català de Recerca i Estudis Avancats, Barcelona, Spain
- Ladurner, Peter Institute of Zoology and Center of Molecular Bioscience Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, Austria
- Bruggmann, Rémy Department of Biology, Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit, University of Bern, Switzerland
- Sprecher, Simon G. Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
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01.09.2018
Published in:
- Genome Biology and Evolution. - 2018, vol. 10, no. 9, p. 2205–2217
English
Homeodomain transcription factors are involved in many developmental processes across animals and have been linked to body plan evolution. Detailed classifications of these proteins identified 11 distinct classes of homeodomain proteins in animal genomes, each harboring specific sequence composition and protein domains. Although humans contain the full set of classes, Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans each lack one specific class. Furthermore, representative previous analyses in sponges, ctenophores, and cnidarians could not identify several classes in those nonbilaterian metazoan taxa. Consequently, it is currently unknown when certain homeodomain protein classes first evolved during animal evolution. Here, we investigate representatives of the sister group to all remaining bilaterians, the Xenacoelomorpha. We analyzed three acoel, one nemertodermatid, and one Xenoturbella transcriptomes and identified their expressed homeodomain protein content. We report the identification of representatives of all 11 classes of animal homeodomain transcription factors in Xenacoelomorpha and we describe and classify their homeobox genes relative to the established animal homeodomain protein families. Our findings suggest that the genome of the last common ancestor of bilateria contained the full set of these gene classes, supporting the subsequent diversification of bilaterians.
- Faculty
- Faculté des sciences et de médecine
- Department
- Département de Biologie
- Language
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- English
- Classification
- Biological sciences
- License
- License undefined
- Identifiers
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- RERO DOC 323320
- DOI 10.1093/gbe/evy170
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/307194
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