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Medina-Jiménez BI, Budd GE, Pechmann M, Posnien N, Janssen R. Single-cell sequencing suggests a conserved function of Hedgehog-signalling in spider eye development. EvoDevo 2024; 15:11. [PMID: 39327634 PMCID: PMC11428483 DOI: 10.1186/s13227-024-00230-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 09/01/2024] [Indexed: 09/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Spiders evolved different types of eyes, a pair of primary eyes that are usually forward pointing, and three pairs of secondary eyes that are typically situated more posterior and lateral on the spider's head. The best understanding of arthropod eye development comes from the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster, the main arthropod model organism, that also evolved different types of eyes, the larval eyes and the ocelli and compound eyes of the imago. The gene regulatory networks that underlie eye development in this species are well investigated revealing a conserved core network, but also show several differences between the different types of eyes. Recent candidate gene approaches identified a number of conserved genes in arthropod eye development, but also revealed crucial differences including the apparent lack of some key factors in some groups of arthropods, including spiders. RESULTS Here, we re-analysed our published scRNA sequencing data and found potential key regulators of spider eye development that were previously overlooked. Unlike earlier research on this topic, our new data suggest that Hedgehog (Hh)-signalling is involved in eye development in the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. By investigating embryonic gene expression in representatives of all main groups of spiders, we demonstrate that this involvement is conserved in spiders. Additionally, we identified genes that are expressed in the developing eyes of spiders, but that have not been studied in this context before. CONCLUSION Our data show that single-cell sequencing represents a powerful method to gain deeper insight into gene regulatory networks that underlie the development of lineage-specific organs such as the derived set of eyes in spiders. Overall, we gained deeper insight into spider eye development, as well as the evolution of arthropod visual system formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda I Medina-Jiménez
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Graham E Budd
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Matthias Pechmann
- Institute for Zoology, Department of Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Biocenter, Zuelpicher Str. 47B, 50674, Cologne, Germany
| | - Nico Posnien
- Department of Developmental Biology, Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB), University of Göttingen, Justus-Von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden.
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2
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Klementz BC, Brenneis G, Hinne IA, Laumer EM, Neu SM, Hareid GM, Gainett G, Setton EVW, Simian C, Vrech DE, Joyce I, Barnett AA, Patel NH, Harvey MS, Peretti AV, Gulia-Nuss M, Sharma PP. A Novel Expression Domain of extradenticle Underlies the Evolutionary Developmental Origin of the Chelicerate Patella. Mol Biol Evol 2024; 41:msae188. [PMID: 39235104 PMCID: PMC11422720 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msae188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2024] [Revised: 08/02/2024] [Accepted: 08/30/2024] [Indexed: 09/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Neofunctionalization of duplicated gene copies is thought to be an important process underlying the origin of evolutionary novelty and provides an elegant mechanism for the origin of new phenotypic traits. One putative case where a new gene copy has been linked to a novel morphological trait is the origin of the arachnid patella, a taxonomically restricted leg segment. In spiders, the origin of this segment has been linked to the origin of the paralog dachshund-2, suggesting that a new gene facilitated the expression of a new trait. However, various arachnid groups that possess patellae do not have a copy of dachshund-2, disfavoring the direct link between gene origin and trait origin. We investigated the developmental genetic basis for patellar patterning in the harvestman Phalangium opilio, which lacks dachshund-2. Here, we show that the harvestman patella is established by a novel expression domain of the transcription factor extradenticle. Leveraging this definition of patellar identity, we surveyed targeted groups across chelicerate phylogeny to assess when this trait evolved. We show that a patellar homolog is present in Pycnogonida (sea spiders) and various arachnid orders, suggesting a single origin of the patella in the ancestor of Chelicerata. A potential loss of the patella is observed in Ixodida. Our results suggest that the modification of an ancient gene, rather than the neofunctionalization of a new gene copy, underlies the origin of the patella. Broadly, this work underscores the value of comparative data and broad taxonomic sampling when testing hypotheses in evolutionary developmental biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin C Klementz
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Georg Brenneis
- Unit Integrative Zoologie, Department Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Isaac A Hinne
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Ethan M Laumer
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Sophie M Neu
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Grace M Hareid
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pathology, Boston Children,'s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Emily V W Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Catalina Simian
- Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y Evolución, Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientifícas Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - David E Vrech
- Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y Evolución, Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientifícas Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Isabella Joyce
- Department of Biology, DeSales University, Center Valley, PA, USA
| | - Austen A Barnett
- Department of Biology, DeSales University, Center Valley, PA, USA
| | - Nipam H Patel
- Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA
- Organismal Biology & Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mark S Harvey
- Collections & Research, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, WA, Australia
| | - Alfredo V Peretti
- Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y Evolución, Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientifícas Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Monika Gulia-Nuss
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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3
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Gainett G, Klementz BC, Setton EVW, Simian C, Iuri HA, Edgecombe GD, Peretti AV, Sharma PP. A plurality of morphological characters need not equate with phylogenetic accuracy: A rare genomic change refutes the placement of Solifugae and Pseudoscorpiones in Haplocnemata. Evol Dev 2024; 26:e12467. [PMID: 38124251 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in higher-level invertebrate phylogeny have leveraged shared features of genomic architecture to resolve contentious nodes across the tree of life. Yet, the interordinal relationships within Chelicerata have remained recalcitrant given competing topologies in recent molecular analyses. As such, relationships between topologically unstable orders remain supported primarily by morphological cladistic analyses. Solifugae, one such unstable chelicerate order, has long been thought to be the sister group of Pseudoscorpiones, forming the clade Haplocnemata, on the basis of eight putative morphological synapomorphies. The discovery, however, of a shared whole genome duplication placing Pseudoscorpiones in Arachnopulmonata provides the opportunity for a simple litmus test evaluating the validity of Haplocnemata. Here, we present the first developmental transcriptome of a solifuge (Titanopuga salinarum) and survey copy numbers of the homeobox genes for evidence of systemic duplication. We find that over 70% of the identified homeobox genes in T. salinarum are retained in a single copy, while representatives of the arachnopulmonates retain orthologs of those genes as two or more copies. Our results refute the placement of Solifugae in Haplocnemata. Subsequent reevaluation of putative interordinal morphological synapomorphies among chelicerates reveals a high incidence of homoplasy, reversals, and inaccurate coding within Haplocnemata and other small clades, as well as Arachnida more broadly, suggesting existing morphological character matrices are insufficient to resolve chelicerate phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Benjamin C Klementz
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Emily V W Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Catalina Simian
- Departamento de Diversidad Biológica y Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y Evolución, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Hernán A Iuri
- División de Aracnología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gregory D Edgecombe
- Department of Earth Sciences, Division ES Invertebrates and Plants Palaeobiology, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Alfredo V Peretti
- Departamento de Diversidad Biológica y Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y Evolución, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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4
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Klementz BC, Brenneis G, Hinne IA, Laumer EM, Neu SM, Hareid GM, Gainett G, Setton EVW, Simian C, Vrech DE, Joyce I, Barnett AA, Patel NH, Harvey MS, Peretti AV, Gulia-Nuss M, Sharma PP. A novel expression domain of extradenticle underlies the evolutionary developmental origin of the chelicerate patella. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.16.594547. [PMID: 38826321 PMCID: PMC11142128 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.16.594547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Neofunctionalization of duplicated gene copies is thought to be an important process underlying the origin of evolutionary novelty and provides an elegant mechanism for the origin of new phenotypic traits. One putative case where a new gene copy has been linked to a novel morphological trait is the origin of the arachnid patella, a taxonomically restricted leg segment. In spiders, the origin of this segment has been linked to the origin of the paralog dachshund-2 , suggesting that a new gene facilitated the expression of a new trait. However, various arachnid groups that possess patellae do not have a copy of dachshund-2 , disfavoring the direct link between gene origin and trait origin. We investigated the developmental genetic basis for patellar patterning in the harvestman Phalangium opilio , which lacks dachshund-2 . Here, we show that the harvestman patella is established by a novel expression domain of the transcription factor extradenticle . Leveraging this definition of patellar identity, we surveyed targeted groups across chelicerate phylogeny to assess when this trait evolved. We show that a patellar homolog is present in Pycnogonida (sea spiders) and various arachnid orders, suggesting a single origin of the patella in the ancestor of Chelicerata. A potential loss of the patella is observed in Ixodida. Our results suggest that the modification of an ancient gene, rather than the neofunctionalization of a new gene copy, underlies the origin of the patella. Broadly, this work underscores the value of comparative data and broad taxonomic sampling when testing hypotheses in evolutionary developmental biology.
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5
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Gainett G, Klementz BC, Blaszczyk P, Setton EVW, Murayama GP, Willemart R, Gavish-Regev E, Sharma PP. Vestigial organs alter fossil placements in an ancient group of terrestrial chelicerates. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1258-1270.e5. [PMID: 38401545 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Vestigial organs provide a link between ancient and modern traits and therefore have great potential to resolve the phylogeny of contentious fossils that bear features not seen in extant species. Here we show that extant daddy-longlegs (Arachnida, Opiliones), a group once thought to possess only one pair of eyes, in fact additionally retain a pair of vestigial median eyes and a pair of vestigial lateral eyes. Neuroanatomical gene expression surveys of eye-patterning transcription factors, opsins, and other structural proteins in the daddy-longlegs Phalangium opilio show that the vestigial median and lateral eyes innervate regions of the brain positionally homologous to the median and lateral eye neuropils, respectively, of chelicerate groups like spiders and horseshoe crabs. Gene silencing of eyes absent shows that the vestigial eyes are under the control of the retinal determination gene network. Gene silencing of dachshund disrupts the lateral eyes, but not the median eyes, paralleling loss-of-function phenotypes in insect models. The existence of lateral eyes in extant daddy-longlegs bears upon the placement of the oldest harvestmen fossils, a putative stem group that possessed both a pair of median eyes and a pair of lateral eyes. Phylogenetic analysis of harvestman relationships with an updated understanding of lateral eye incidence resolved the four-eyed fossil group as a member of the extant daddy-longlegs suborder, which in turn resulted in older estimated ages of harvestman diversification. This work underscores that developmental vestiges in extant taxa can influence our understanding of character evolution, placement of fossils, and inference of divergence times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Pathology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Benjamin C Klementz
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Pola Blaszczyk
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Emily V W Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Gabriel P Murayama
- Laboratório de Ecologia Sensorial e Comportamento de Artrópodes, Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Arlindo Béttio, 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, SP 03828-000, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Willemart
- Laboratório de Ecologia Sensorial e Comportamento de Artrópodes, Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Arlindo Béttio, 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, SP 03828-000, Brazil
| | - Efrat Gavish-Regev
- The National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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6
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Aase-Remedios ME, Janssen R, Leite DJ, Sumner-Rooney L, McGregor AP. Evolution of the Spider Homeobox Gene Repertoire by Tandem and Whole Genome Duplication. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad239. [PMID: 37935059 PMCID: PMC10726417 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Gene duplication generates new genetic material that can contribute to the evolution of gene regulatory networks and phenotypes. Duplicated genes can undergo subfunctionalization to partition ancestral functions and/or neofunctionalization to assume a new function. We previously found there had been a whole genome duplication (WGD) in an ancestor of arachnopulmonates, the lineage including spiders and scorpions but excluding other arachnids like mites, ticks, and harvestmen. This WGD was evidenced by many duplicated homeobox genes, including two Hox clusters, in spiders. However, it was unclear which homeobox paralogues originated by WGD versus smaller-scale events such as tandem duplications. Understanding this is a key to determining the contribution of the WGD to arachnopulmonate genome evolution. Here we characterized the distribution of duplicated homeobox genes across eight chromosome-level spider genomes. We found that most duplicated homeobox genes in spiders are consistent with an origin by WGD. We also found two copies of conserved homeobox gene clusters, including the Hox, NK, HRO, Irx, and SINE clusters, in all eight species. Consistently, we observed one copy of each cluster was degenerated in terms of gene content and organization while the other remained more intact. Focussing on the NK cluster, we found evidence for regulatory subfunctionalization between the duplicated NK genes in the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum compared to their single-copy orthologues in the harvestman Phalangium opilio. Our study provides new insights into the relative contributions of multiple modes of duplication to the homeobox gene repertoire during the evolution of spiders and the function of NK genes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden
| | - Daniel J Leite
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Lauren Sumner-Rooney
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, 10115, Germany
| | - Alistair P McGregor
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
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Janssen R, Pechmann M. Expression of posterior Hox genes and opisthosomal appendage development in a mygalomorph spider. Dev Genes Evol 2023; 233:107-121. [PMID: 37495828 PMCID: PMC10746769 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-023-00707-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Spiders represent an evolutionary successful group of chelicerate arthropods. The body of spiders is subdivided into two regions (tagmata). The anterior tagma, the prosoma, bears the head appendages and four pairs of walking legs. The segments of the posterior tagma, the opisthosoma, either lost their appendages during the course of evolution or their appendages were substantially modified to fulfill new tasks such as reproduction, gas exchange, and silk production. Previous work has shown that the homeotic Hox genes are involved in shaping the posterior appendages of spiders. In this paper, we investigate the expression of the posterior Hox genes in a tarantula that possesses some key differences of posterior appendages compared to true spiders, such as the lack of the anterior pair of spinnerets and a second set of book lungs instead of trachea. Based on the observed differences in posterior Hox gene expression in true spiders and tarantulas, we argue that subtle changes in the Hox gene expression of the Hox genes abdA and AbdB are possibly responsible for at least some of the morphological differences seen in true spiders versus tarantulas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Matthias Pechmann
- Institute for Zoology, Biocenter, University of Cologne, Zuelpicher Str. 47b, 50674, Cologne, Germany
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8
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Sharma PP. The Impact of Whole Genome Duplication on the Evolution of the Arachnids. Integr Comp Biol 2023; 63:825-842. [PMID: 37263789 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The proliferation of genomic resources for Chelicerata in the past 10 years has revealed that the evolution of chelicerate genomes is more dynamic than previously thought, with multiple waves of ancient whole genome duplications affecting separate lineages. Such duplication events are fascinating from the perspective of evolutionary history because the burst of new gene copies associated with genome duplications facilitates the acquisition of new gene functions (neofunctionalization), which may in turn lead to morphological novelties and spur net diversification. While neofunctionalization has been invoked in several contexts with respect to the success and diversity of spiders, the overall impact of whole genome duplications on chelicerate evolution and development remains imperfectly understood. The purpose of this review is to examine critically the role of whole genome duplication on the diversification of the extant arachnid orders, as well as assess functional datasets for evidence of subfunctionalization or neofunctionalization in chelicerates. This examination focuses on functional data from two focal model taxa: the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum, which exhibits evidence for an ancient duplication, and the harvestman Phalangium opilio, which exhibits an unduplicated genome. I show that there is no evidence that taxa with genome duplications are more successful than taxa with unduplicated genomes. I contend that evidence for sub- or neofunctionalization of duplicated developmental patterning genes in spiders is indirect or fragmentary at present, despite the appeal of this postulate for explaining the success of groups like spiders. Available expression data suggest that the condition of duplicated Hox modules may have played a role in promoting body plan disparity in the posterior tagma of some orders, such as spiders and scorpions, but functional data substantiating this postulate are critically missing. Spatiotemporal dynamics of duplicated transcription factors in spiders may represent cases of developmental system drift, rather than neofunctionalization. Developmental system drift may represent an important, but overlooked, null hypothesis for studies of paralogs in chelicerate developmental biology. To distinguish between subfunctionalization, neofunctionalization, and developmental system drift, concomitant establishment of comparative functional datasets from taxa exhibiting the genome duplication, as well as those that lack the paralogy, is sorely needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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9
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Hox genes in spiders: Their significance for development and evolution. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2022:S1084-9521(22)00355-X. [PMID: 36522242 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2022.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 11/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Hox genes are known for their role in the specification of typical body plan features in animals. Evolutionary changes in Hox gene function are believed to be involved in the emergence of the diverse body plans we observe in animals today. Spiders share many body plan features with other arthropods, but also have numerous unique traits of their own. Studies of spider Hox genes have already provided insights into evolutionarily conserved and derived features of the spider body plan and their genetic basis. However, many aspects of Hox gene biology have been insufficiently studied in spiders so far. In this review, we highlight previous comparative studies of Hox genes in spiders and their significance for our understanding of the evolution of the spider body plan. We also identify aspects of Hox gene biology that need to be studied in greater detail. Many spider Hox genes have not been investigated beyond their mRNA expression patterns, and the role of Hox genes with apparently plesiomorphic or dual functions, like ftz and Hox3 is still unclear. Spiders have a duplicated Hox gene cluster, but possible sub- or neofunctionalisation of duplicates have not yet been studied systematically. Future research should therefore focus on these issues, in addition to the role of Polycomb and trithorax-mediated regulation, the identification of regulatory regions, cofactors or spider-specific target genes, and the significance of non-coding RNAs transcribed from within the Hox cluster and even from the antisense strand of particular Hox genes.
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10
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Gainett G, Crawford AR, Klementz BC, So C, Baker CM, Setton EVW, Sharma PP. Eggs to long-legs: embryonic staging of the harvestman Phalangium opilio (Opiliones), an emerging model arachnid. Front Zool 2022; 19:11. [PMID: 35246168 PMCID: PMC8896363 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-022-00454-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The comparative embryology of Chelicerata has greatly advanced in recent years with the integration of classical studies and genetics, prominently spearheaded by developmental genetic works in spiders. Nonetheless, the understanding of the evolution of development and polarization of embryological characters in Chelicerata is presently limited, as few non-spider species have been well studied. A promising focal species for chelicerate evo-devo is the daddy-long-legs (harvestman) Phalangium opilio, a member of the order Opiliones. Phalangium opilio, breeds prolifically and is easily accessible in many parts of the world, as well as tractable in a laboratory setting. Resources for this species include developmental transcriptomes, a draft genome, and protocols for RNA interference, but a modern staging system is critically missing for this emerging model system. RESULTS We present a staging system of P. opilio embryogenesis that spans the most important morphogenetic events with respect to segment formation, appendage elongation and head development. Using time-lapse imaging, confocal microscopy, colorimetric in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry, we tracked the development of synchronous clutches from egg laying to adulthood. We describe key events in segmentation, myogenesis, neurogenesis, and germ cell formation. CONCLUSION Considering the phylogenetic position of Opiliones and the unduplicated condition of its genome (in contrast to groups like spiders and scorpions), this species is poised to serve as a linchpin for comparative studies in arthropod development and genome evolution. The staging system presented herein provides a valuable reference for P. opilio that we anticipate being useful to the arthropod evo-devo community, with the goal of revitalizing research in the comparative development of non-spider arachnids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 438 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - Audrey R Crawford
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 438 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Benjamin C Klementz
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 438 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Calvin So
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 438 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Caitlin M Baker
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 438 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Emily V W Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 438 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 438 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
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11
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Janssen R, Turetzek N, Pechmann M. Lack of evidence for conserved parasegmental grooves in arthropods. Dev Genes Evol 2022; 232:27-37. [PMID: 35038005 PMCID: PMC8918137 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-022-00684-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
In the arthropod model species Drosophila melanogaster, a dipteran fly, segmentation of the anterior–posterior body axis is under control of a hierarchic gene cascade. Segmental boundaries that form morphological grooves are established posteriorly within the segmental expression domain of the segment-polarity gene (SPG) engrailed (en). More important for the development of the fly, however, are the parasegmental boundaries that are established at the interface of en expressing cells and anteriorly adjacent wingless (wg) expressing cells. In Drosophila, both segmental and transient parasegmental grooves form. The latter are positioned anterior to the expression of en. Although the function of the SPGs in establishing and maintaining segmental and parasegmental boundaries is highly conserved among arthropods, parasegmental grooves have only been reported for Drosophila, and a spider (Cupiennius salei). Here, we present new data on en expression, and re-evaluate published data, from four distantly related spiders, including Cupiennius, and a distantly related chelicerate, the harvestman Phalangium opilio. Gene expression analysis of en genes in these animals does not corroborate the presence of parasegmental grooves. Consequently, our data question the general presence of parasegmental grooves in arthropods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Palaeobiology, Sweden.
| | - Natascha Turetzek
- Evolutionary Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Grosshaderner Strasse 2, 82152, Biozentrum, Germany
| | - Matthias Pechmann
- Institute for Zoology, Department of Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Zuelpicher Str. 47b, 50674, Biocenter, Germany
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12
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Harper A, Baudouin Gonzalez L, Schönauer A, Janssen R, Seiter M, Holzem M, Arif S, McGregor AP, Sumner-Rooney L. Widespread retention of ohnologs in key developmental gene families following whole-genome duplication in arachnopulmonates. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2021; 11:jkab299. [PMID: 34849767 PMCID: PMC8664421 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) have occurred multiple times during animal evolution, including in lineages leading to vertebrates, teleosts, horseshoe crabs, and arachnopulmonates. These dramatic events initially produce a wealth of new genetic material, generally followed by extensive gene loss. It appears, however, that developmental genes such as homeobox genes, signaling pathway components and microRNAs are frequently retained as duplicates (so-called ohnologs) following WGD. These not only provide the best evidence for WGD, but an opportunity to study its evolutionary consequences. Although these genes are well studied in the context of vertebrate WGD, similar comparisons across the extant arachnopulmonate orders are patchy. We sequenced embryonic transcriptomes from two spider species and two amblypygid species and surveyed three important gene families, Hox, Wnt, and frizzled, across these and 12 existing transcriptomic and genomic resources for chelicerates. We report extensive retention of putative ohnologs, further supporting the ancestral arachnopulmonate WGD. We also found evidence of consistent evolutionary trajectories in Hox and Wnt gene repertoires across three of the six arachnopulmonate orders, with interorder variation in the retention of specific paralogs. We identified variation between major clades in spiders and are better able to reconstruct the chronology of gene duplications and losses in spiders, amblypygids, and scorpions. These insights shed light on the evolution of the developmental toolkit in arachnopulmonates, highlight the importance of the comparative approach within lineages, and provide substantial new transcriptomic data for future study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber Harper
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Luis Baudouin Gonzalez
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Anna Schönauer
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Geocentrum, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Michael Seiter
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Unit Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Michaela Holzem
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
- Division of Signalling and Functional Genomics, German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany and Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Saad Arif
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
- Centre for Functional Genomics, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Alistair P McGregor
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
- Centre for Functional Genomics, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Lauren Sumner-Rooney
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK
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13
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Janssen R, Pechmann M, Turetzek N. A chelicerate Wnt gene expression atlas: novel insights into the complexity of arthropod Wnt-patterning. EvoDevo 2021; 12:12. [PMID: 34753512 PMCID: PMC8579682 DOI: 10.1186/s13227-021-00182-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The Wnt genes represent a large family of secreted glycoprotein ligands that date back to early animal evolution. Multiple duplication events generated a set of 13 Wnt families of which 12 are preserved in protostomes. Embryonic Wnt expression patterns (Wnt-patterning) are complex, representing the plentitude of functions these genes play during development. Here, we comprehensively investigated the embryonic expression patterns of Wnt genes from three species of spiders covering both main groups of true spiders, Haplogynae and Entelegynae, a mygalomorph species (tarantula), as well as a distantly related chelicerate outgroup species, the harvestman Phalangium opilio. All spiders possess the same ten classes of Wnt genes, but retained partially different sets of duplicated Wnt genes after whole genome duplication, some of which representing impressive examples of sub- and neo-functionalization. The harvestman, however, possesses a more complete set of 11 Wnt genes but with no duplicates. Our comprehensive data-analysis suggests a high degree of complexity and evolutionary flexibility of Wnt-patterning likely providing a firm network of mutational protection. We discuss the new data on Wnt gene expression in terms of their potential function in segmentation, posterior elongation, and appendage development and critically review previous research on these topics. We conclude that earlier research may have suffered from the absence of comprehensive gene expression data leading to partial misconceptions about the roles of Wnt genes in development and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Matthias Pechmann
- Department of Developmental Biology, Biocenter, Institute for Zoology, University of Cologne, Zuelpicher Str. 47b, 50674, Cologne, Germany
| | - Natascha Turetzek
- Evolutionary Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Grosshaderner Strasse 2, 82152, Biozentrum, Germany
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14
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Hajirnis N, Mishra RK. Homeotic Genes: Clustering, Modularity, and Diversity. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:718308. [PMID: 34458272 PMCID: PMC8386295 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.718308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Hox genes code for transcription factors and are evolutionarily conserved. They regulate a plethora of downstream targets to define the anterior-posterior (AP) body axis of a developing bilaterian embryo. Early work suggested a possible role of clustering and ordering of Hox to regulate their expression in a spatially restricted manner along the AP axis. However, the recent availability of many genome assemblies for different organisms uncovered several examples that defy this constraint. With recent advancements in genomics, the current review discusses the arrangement of Hox in various organisms. Further, we revisit their discovery and regulation in Drosophila melanogaster. We also review their regulation in different arthropods and vertebrates, with a significant focus on Hox expression in the crustacean Parahyale hawaiensis. It is noteworthy that subtle changes in the levels of Hox gene expression can contribute to the development of novel features in an organism. We, therefore, delve into the distinct regulation of these genes during primary axis formation, segment identity, and extra-embryonic roles such as in the formation of hair follicles or misregulation leading to cancer. Toward the end of each section, we emphasize the possibilities of several experiments involving various organisms, owing to the advancements in the field of genomics and CRISPR-based genome engineering. Overall, we present a holistic view of the functioning of Hox in the animal world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikhil Hajirnis
- CSIR – Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, India
| | - Rakesh K. Mishra
- CSIR – Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, India
- AcSIR – Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad, India
- Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), Bangalore, India
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15
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Gainett G, González VL, Ballesteros JA, Setton EVW, Baker CM, Barolo Gargiulo L, Santibáñez-López CE, Coddington JA, Sharma PP. The genome of a daddy-long-legs (Opiliones) illuminates the evolution of arachnid appendages. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211168. [PMID: 34344178 PMCID: PMC8334856 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Chelicerate arthropods exhibit dynamic genome evolution, with ancient whole-genome duplication (WGD) events affecting several orders. Yet, genomes remain unavailable for a number of poorly studied orders, such as Opiliones (daddy-long-legs), which has hindered comparative study. We assembled the first harvestman draft genome for the species Phalangium opilio, which bears elongate, prehensile appendages, made possible by numerous distal articles called tarsomeres. Here, we show that the genome of P. opilio exhibits a single Hox cluster and no evidence of WGD. To investigate the developmental genetic basis for the quintessential trait of this group-the elongate legs-we interrogated the function of the Hox genes Deformed (Dfd) and Sex combs reduced (Scr), and a homologue of Epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr). Knockdown of Dfd incurred homeotic transformation of two pairs of legs into pedipalps, with dramatic shortening of leg segments in the longest leg pair, whereas homeosis in L3 is only achieved upon double Dfd + Scr knockdown. Knockdown of Egfr incurred shortened appendages and the loss of tarsomeres. The similarity of Egfr loss-of-function phenotypic spectra in insects and this arachnid suggest that repeated cooption of EGFR signalling underlies the independent gains of supernumerary tarsomeres across the arthropod tree of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, 53706 WI, USA
| | - Vanessa L. González
- Global Genome Initiative, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution, NW, Washington, DC 20560-0105, USA
| | - Jesús A. Ballesteros
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, 53706 WI, USA
| | - Emily V. W. Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, 53706 WI, USA
| | - Caitlin M. Baker
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, 53706 WI, USA
| | | | - Carlos E. Santibáñez-López
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Western Connecticut State University, 181 White St, Danbury, CT 06810, USA
| | - Jonathan A. Coddington
- Global Genome Initiative, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution, NW, Washington, DC 20560-0105, USA
| | - Prashant P. Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, 53706 WI, USA
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16
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Ontano AZ, Gainett G, Aharon S, Ballesteros JA, Benavides LR, Corbett KF, Gavish-Regev E, Harvey MS, Monsma S, Santibáñez-López CE, Setton EVW, Zehms JT, Zeh JA, Zeh DW, Sharma PP. Taxonomic Sampling and Rare Genomic Changes Overcome Long-Branch Attraction in the Phylogenetic Placement of Pseudoscorpions. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:2446-2467. [PMID: 33565584 PMCID: PMC8136511 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Long-branch attraction is a systematic artifact that results in erroneous groupings of fast-evolving taxa. The combination of short, deep internodes in tandem with long-branch attraction artifacts has produced empirically intractable parts of the Tree of Life. One such group is the arthropod subphylum Chelicerata, whose backbone phylogeny has remained unstable despite improvements in phylogenetic methods and genome-scale data sets. Pseudoscorpion placement is particularly variable across data sets and analytical frameworks, with this group either clustering with other long-branch orders or with Arachnopulmonata (scorpions and tetrapulmonates). To surmount long-branch attraction, we investigated the effect of taxonomic sampling via sequential deletion of basally branching pseudoscorpion superfamilies, as well as varying gene occupancy thresholds in supermatrices. We show that concatenated supermatrices and coalescent-based summary species tree approaches support a sister group relationship of pseudoscorpions and scorpions, when more of the basally branching taxa are sampled. Matrix completeness had demonstrably less influence on tree topology. As an external arbiter of phylogenetic placement, we leveraged the recent discovery of an ancient genome duplication in the common ancestor of Arachnopulmonata as a litmus test for competing hypotheses of pseudoscorpion relationships. We generated a high-quality developmental transcriptome and the first genome for pseudoscorpions to assess the incidence of arachnopulmonate-specific duplications (e.g., homeobox genes and miRNAs). Our results support the inclusion of pseudoscorpions in Arachnopulmonata (new definition), as the sister group of scorpions. Panscorpiones (new name) is proposed for the clade uniting Scorpiones and Pseudoscorpiones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Z Ontano
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Shlomi Aharon
- National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Jesús A Ballesteros
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Ligia R Benavides
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kevin F Corbett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Efrat Gavish-Regev
- National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Mark S Harvey
- Collections & Research, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, WA, Australia
| | | | | | - Emily V W Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jakob T Zehms
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jeanne A Zeh
- Department of Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - David W Zeh
- Department of Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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17
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Baudouin-Gonzalez L, Schoenauer A, Harper A, Blakeley G, Seiter M, Arif S, Sumner-Rooney L, Russell S, Sharma PP, McGregor AP. The Evolution of Sox Gene Repertoires and Regulation of Segmentation in Arachnids. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:3153-3169. [PMID: 33755150 PMCID: PMC8661403 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The Sox family of transcription factors regulates many processes during metazoan development, including stem cell maintenance and nervous system specification. Characterizing the repertoires and roles of these genes can therefore provide important insights into animal evolution and development. We further characterized the Sox repertoires of several arachnid species with and without an ancestral whole-genome duplication and compared their expression between the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum and the harvestman Phalangium opilio. We found that most Sox families have been retained as ohnologs after whole-genome duplication and evidence for potential subfunctionalization and/or neofunctionalization events. Our results also suggest that Sox21b-1 likely regulated segmentation ancestrally in arachnids, playing a similar role to the closely related SoxB gene, Dichaete, in insects. We previously showed that Sox21b-1 is required for the simultaneous formation of prosomal segments and sequential addition of opisthosomal segments in P. tepidariorum. We studied the expression and function of Sox21b-1 further in this spider and found that although this gene regulates the generation of both prosomal and opisthosomal segments, it plays different roles in the formation of these tagmata reflecting their contrasting modes of segmentation and deployment of gene regulatory networks with different architectures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Baudouin-Gonzalez
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Schoenauer
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Amber Harper
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Grace Blakeley
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Seiter
- Unit Integrative Zoology, Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Saad Arif
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom.,Centre for Functional Genomics, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Steven Russell
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Alistair P McGregor
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom.,Centre for Functional Genomics, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
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18
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Gainett G, Ballesteros JA, Kanzler CR, Zehms JT, Zern JM, Aharon S, Gavish-Regev E, Sharma PP. Systemic paralogy and function of retinal determination network homologs in arachnids. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:811. [PMID: 33225889 PMCID: PMC7681978 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-07149-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Arachnids are important components of cave ecosystems and display many examples of troglomorphisms, such as blindness, depigmentation, and elongate appendages. Little is known about how the eyes of arachnids are specified genetically, let alone the mechanisms for eye reduction and loss in troglomorphic arachnids. Additionally, duplication of Retinal Determination Gene Network (RDGN) homologs in spiders has convoluted functional inferences extrapolated from single-copy homologs in pancrustacean models. RESULTS We investigated a sister species pair of Israeli cave whip spiders, Charinus ioanniticus and C. israelensis (Arachnopulmonata, Amblypygi), of which one species has reduced eyes. We generated embryonic transcriptomes for both Amblypygi species, and discovered that several RDGN homologs exhibit duplications. We show that duplication of RDGN homologs is systemic across arachnopulmonates (arachnid orders that bear book lungs), rather than being a spider-specific phenomenon. A differential gene expression (DGE) analysis comparing the expression of RDGN genes in field-collected embryos of both species identified candidate RDGN genes involved in the formation and reduction of eyes in whip spiders. To ground bioinformatic inference of expression patterns with functional experiments, we interrogated the function of three candidate RDGN genes identified from DGE using RNAi in the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. We provide functional evidence that one of these paralogs, sine oculis/Six1 A (soA), is necessary for the development of all arachnid eye types. CONCLUSIONS Our work establishes a foundation to investigate the genetics of troglomorphic adaptations in cave arachnids, and links differential gene expression to an arthropod eye phenotype for the first time outside of Pancrustacea. Our results support the conservation of at least one RDGN component across Arthropoda and provide a framework for identifying the role of gene duplications in generating arachnid eye diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - Jesús A Ballesteros
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - Charlotte R Kanzler
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Jakob T Zehms
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - John M Zern
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Shlomi Aharon
- National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel
| | - Efrat Gavish-Regev
- National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
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19
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Gainett G, Sharma PP. Genomic resources and toolkits for developmental study of whip spiders (Amblypygi) provide insights into arachnid genome evolution and antenniform leg patterning. EvoDevo 2020; 11:18. [PMID: 32874529 PMCID: PMC7455915 DOI: 10.1186/s13227-020-00163-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The resurgence of interest in the comparative developmental study of chelicerates has led to important insights, such as the discovery of a genome duplication shared by spiders and scorpions, inferred to have occurred in the most recent common ancestor of Arachnopulmonata (a clade comprising the five arachnid orders that bear book lungs). Nonetheless, several arachnid groups remain understudied in the context of development and genomics, such as the order Amblypygi (whip spiders). The phylogenetic position of Amblypygi in Arachnopulmonata posits them as an interesting group to test the incidence of the proposed genome duplication in the common ancestor of Arachnopulmonata, as well as the degree of retention of duplicates over 450 Myr. Moreover, whip spiders have their first pair of walking legs elongated and modified into sensory appendages (a convergence with the antennae of mandibulates), but the genetic patterning of these antenniform legs has never been investigated. RESULTS We established genomic resources and protocols for cultivation of embryos and gene expression assays by in situ hybridization to study the development of the whip spider Phrynus marginemaculatus. Using embryonic transcriptomes from three species of Amblypygi, we show that the ancestral whip spider exhibited duplications of all ten Hox genes. We deploy these resources to show that paralogs of the leg gap genes dachshund and homothorax retain arachnopulmonate-specific expression patterns in P. marginemaculatus. We characterize the expression of leg gap genes Distal-less, dachshund-1/2 and homothorax-1/2 in the embryonic antenniform leg and other appendages, and provide evidence that allometry, and by extension the antenniform leg fate, is specified early in embryogenesis. CONCLUSION This study is the first step in establishing P. marginemaculatus as a chelicerate model for modern evolutionary developmental study, and provides the first resources sampling whip spiders for comparative genomics. Our results suggest that Amblypygi share a genome duplication with spiders and scorpions, and set up a framework to study the genetic specification of antenniform legs. Future efforts to study whip spider development must emphasize the development of tools for functional experiments in P. marginemaculatus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Gainett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706 USA
| | - Prashant P. Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706 USA
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20
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Leite DJ, Baudouin-Gonzalez L, Iwasaki-Yokozawa S, Lozano-Fernandez J, Turetzek N, Akiyama-Oda Y, Prpic NM, Pisani D, Oda H, Sharma PP, McGregor AP. Homeobox Gene Duplication and Divergence in Arachnids. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 35:2240-2253. [PMID: 29924328 PMCID: PMC6107062 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Homeobox genes are key toolkit genes that regulate the development of metazoans and changes in their regulation and copy number have contributed to the evolution of phenotypic diversity. We recently identified a whole genome duplication (WGD) event that occurred in an ancestor of spiders and scorpions (Arachnopulmonata), and that many homeobox genes, including two Hox clusters, appear to have been retained in arachnopulmonates. To better understand the consequences of this ancient WGD and the evolution of arachnid homeobox genes, we have characterized and compared the homeobox repertoires in a range of arachnids. We found that many families and clusters of these genes are duplicated in all studied arachnopulmonates (Parasteatoda tepidariorum, Pholcus phalangioides, Centruroides sculpturatus, and Mesobuthus martensii) compared with nonarachnopulmonate arachnids (Phalangium opilio, Neobisium carcinoides, Hesperochernes sp., and Ixodes scapularis). To assess divergence in the roles of homeobox ohnologs, we analyzed the expression of P. tepidariorum homeobox genes during embryogenesis and found pervasive changes in the level and timing of their expression. Furthermore, we compared the spatial expression of a subset of P. tepidariorum ohnologs with their single copy orthologs in P. opilio embryos. We found evidence for likely subfunctionlization and neofunctionalization of these genes in the spider. Overall our results show a high level of retention of homeobox genes in spiders and scorpions post-WGD, which is likely to have made a major contribution to their developmental evolution and diversification through pervasive subfunctionlization and neofunctionalization, and paralleling the outcomes of WGD in vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Leite
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Luís Baudouin-Gonzalez
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Jesus Lozano-Fernandez
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol, United Kingdom.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Natascha Turetzek
- Department of Cellular Neurobiology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Yasuko Akiyama-Oda
- JT Biohistory Research Hall, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan.,Microbiology and Infection Control, Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan
| | - Nikola-Michael Prpic
- Department of Cellular Neurobiology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Davide Pisani
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol, United Kingdom.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Hiroki Oda
- JT Biohistory Research Hall, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan.,Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Alistair P McGregor
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
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21
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Nolan ED, Santibáñez-López CE, Sharma PP. Developmental gene expression as a phylogenetic data class: support for the monophyly of Arachnopulmonata. Dev Genes Evol 2020; 230:137-153. [PMID: 31927629 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-019-00644-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Despite application of genome-scale datasets, the phylogenetic placement of scorpions within arachnids remains contentious between two different phylogenetic data classes. Paleontologists continue to recover scorpions in a basally branching position, partly owing to their morphological similarity to extinct marine orders like Eurypterida (sea scorpions). Phylogenomic datasets consistently recover scorpions in a derived position, as the sister group of Tetrapulmonata (a clade of arachnids that includes spiders). To adjudicate between these hypotheses using a rare genomic change (RGC), we leveraged the recent discovery of ancient paralogy in spiders and scorpions to assess phylogenetic placement. We identified homologs of four transcription factors required for appendage patterning (dachshund, homothorax, extradenticle, and optomotor blind) in arthropods that are known to be duplicated in spiders. Using genomic resources for a spider, a scorpion, and a harvestman, we conducted gene tree analyses and assayed expression patterns of scorpion gene duplicates. Here we show that scorpions, like spiders, retain two copies of all four transcription factors, whereas arachnid orders like mites and harvestmen bear a single copy. A survey of embryonic expression patterns of the scorpion paralogs closely matches those of their spider counterparts, with one paralog consistently retaining the putatively ancestral pattern found in the harvestman, as well as the mite, and/or other outgroups. These data comprise a rare genomic change in chelicerate phylogeny supporting the inference of a distal placement of scorpions. Beyond demonstrating the diagnostic power of developmental genetic data as a phylogenetic data class, a derived placement of scorpions within the arachnids, together with an array of stem-group Paleozoic scorpions that occupied marine habitats, effectively rules out a scenario of a single colonization of terrestrial habitat within Chelicerata, even in tree topologies contrived to recover the monophyly of Arachnida.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik D Nolan
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.,Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Carlos E Santibáñez-López
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.,Department of Biology, Eastern Connecticut State University, 83 Windham Street, Willimantic, CT, 06266, USA
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
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22
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Chipman AD, Edgecombe GD. Developing an integrated understanding of the evolution of arthropod segmentation using fossils and evo-devo. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191881. [PMID: 31575373 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Segmentation is fundamental to the arthropod body plan. Understanding the evolutionary steps by which arthropods became segmented is being transformed by the integration of data from evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), Cambrian fossils that allow the stepwise acquisition of segmental characters to be traced in the arthropod stem-group, and the incorporation of fossils into an increasingly well-supported phylogenetic framework for extant arthropods based on genomic-scale datasets. Both evo-devo and palaeontology make novel predictions about the evolution of segmentation that serve as testable hypotheses for the other, complementary data source. Fossils underpin such hypotheses as arthropodization originating in a frontal appendage and then being co-opted into other segments, and segmentation of the endodermal midgut in the arthropod stem-group. Insights from development, such as tagmatization being associated with different modes of segment generation in different body regions, and a distinct patterning of the anterior head segments, are complemented by palaeontological evidence for the pattern of tagmatization during ontogeny of exceptionally preserved fossils. Fossil and developmental data together provide evidence for a short head in stem-group arthropods and the mechanism of its formation and retention. Future breakthroughs are expected from identification of molecular signatures of developmental innovations within a phylogenetic framework, and from a focus on later developmental stages to identify the differentiation of repeated units of different systems within segmental precursors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel D Chipman
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Edmond J. Safra Campus - Givat Ram, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Gregory D Edgecombe
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
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23
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March LE, Smaby RM, Setton EVW, Sharma PP. The evolution of selector gene function: Expression dynamics and regulatory interactions of tiptop/teashirt across Arthropoda. Evol Dev 2018; 20:219-232. [PMID: 30221814 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The transcription factors spineless (ss) and tiptop/teashirt (tio/tsh) have been shown to be selectors of distal appendage identity in an insect, but it is unknown how they regulate one another. Here, we examined the regulatory relationships between these two determinants in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus faciatus, using maternal RNA interference (RNAi). We show that Ofas-ss RNAi embryos bear distally transformed antennal buds with heterogeneous Ofas-tio/tsh expression domains comparable to wild type legs. In the reciprocal experiment, Ofas-tio/tsh RNAi embryos bear distally transformed walking limb buds with ectopic expression of Ofas-ss in the distal leg primordia. These data suggest that Ofas-ss is required for the maintenance of Ofas-tio/tsh expression in the distal antenna, whereas Ofas-tio/tsh represses Ofas-ss in the leg primordia. To assess whether expression boundaries of tio/tsh are associated with the trunk region more generally, we surveyed the expression of one myriapod and two chelicerate tio/tsh homologs. Our expression survey suggests that tio/tsh could play a role in specifying distal appendage identity across Arthropoda, but Hox regulation of tio/tsh homologs has been evolutionarily labile.
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Affiliation(s)
- Logan E March
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Rachel M Smaby
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Emily V W Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
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24
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Smith FW, Cumming M, Goldstein B. Analyses of nervous system patterning genes in the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris illuminate the evolution of panarthropod brains. EvoDevo 2018; 9:19. [PMID: 30069303 PMCID: PMC6065069 DOI: 10.1186/s13227-018-0106-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Both euarthropods and vertebrates have tripartite brains. Several orthologous genes are expressed in similar regionalized patterns during brain development in both vertebrates and euarthropods. These similarities have been used to support direct homology of the tripartite brains of vertebrates and euarthropods. If the tripartite brains of vertebrates and euarthropods are homologous, then one would expect other taxa to share this structure. More generally, examination of other taxa can help in tracing the evolutionary history of brain structures. Tardigrades are an interesting lineage on which to test this hypothesis because they are closely related to euarthropods, and whether they have a tripartite brain or unipartite brain has recently been a focus of debate. RESULTS We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the expression patterns of six3, orthodenticle, pax6, unplugged, and pax2/5/8 during brain development in the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris-formerly misidentified as Hypsibius dujardini. These genes were expressed in a staggered anteroposterior order in H. exemplaris, similar to what has been reported for mice and flies. However, only six3, orthodenticle, and pax6 were expressed in the developing brain. Unplugged was expressed broadly throughout the trunk and posterior head, before the appearance of the nervous system. Pax2/5/8 was expressed in the developing central and peripheral nervous system in the trunk. CONCLUSION Our results buttress the conclusion of our previous study of Hox genes-that the brain of tardigrades is only homologous to the protocerebrum of euarthropods. They support a model based on fossil evidence that the last common ancestor of tardigrades and euarthropods possessed a unipartite brain. Our results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that the tripartite brain of euarthropods is directly homologous to the tripartite brain of vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank W. Smith
- Biology Department, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL USA
- Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC USA
| | - Mandy Cumming
- Biology Department, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL USA
| | - Bob Goldstein
- Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC USA
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25
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Sharma PP. Chelicerates and the Conquest of Land: A View of Arachnid Origins Through an Evo-Devo Spyglass. Integr Comp Biol 2018; 57:510-522. [PMID: 28957520 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icx078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The internal phylogeny of Chelicerata and the attendant evolutionary scenario of arachnid terrestrialization have a long and contentious history. Previous studies of developmental gene expression data have suggested that respiratory systems of spiders, crustaceans, and insects are all serially homologous structures derived from the epipods (outer appendage rami) of the arthropod ancestor, corresponding to an ancestral gill. A separate body of evidence has suggested that the respiratory systems of arachnids are modified, inverted telopods (inner rami, or legs). Here I review these dissonant homology statements and compare the developmental genetic basis for respiratory system development in insects and arachnids. I show that the respiratory primordia of arachnids are not positionally homologous to those of insects. I further demonstrate that candidate genes critical to tracheal fate specification in Drosophila melanogaster are expressed very differently in arachnid exemplars. Taken together, these data suggest that mechanisms of respiratory system development are not derived from homologous structures or mechanisms in insects and arachnids, and that different terrestrial arthropod lineages have solved the challenge of aerial respiration using different developmental mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 352 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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26
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Garb JE, Sharma PP, Ayoub NA. Recent progress and prospects for advancing arachnid genomics. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2018; 25:51-57. [PMID: 29602362 PMCID: PMC6658092 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2017.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2017] [Accepted: 11/10/2017] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Arachnids exhibit tremendous species richness and adaptations of biomedical, industrial, and agricultural importance. Yet genomic resources for arachnids are limited, with the first few spider and scorpion genomes becoming accessible in the last four years. We review key insights from these genome projects, and recommend additional genomes for sequencing, emphasizing taxa of greatest value to the scientific community. We suggest greater sampling of spiders whose genomes are understudied but hold important protein recipes for silk and venom production. We further recommend arachnid genomes to address significant evolutionary topics, including the phenotypic impact of genome duplications. A barrier to high-quality arachnid genomes are assemblies based solely on short-read data, which may be overcome by long-range sequencing and other emerging methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Garb
- Department of Biological Sciences, 198 Riverside Street, Olsen Hall 414, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, 352 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Nadia A Ayoub
- Department of Biology, 204 West Washington Street, Howe Hall, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USA
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27
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Schwager EE, Sharma PP, Clarke T, Leite DJ, Wierschin T, Pechmann M, Akiyama-Oda Y, Esposito L, Bechsgaard J, Bilde T, Buffry AD, Chao H, Dinh H, Doddapaneni H, Dugan S, Eibner C, Extavour CG, Funch P, Garb J, Gonzalez LB, Gonzalez VL, Griffiths-Jones S, Han Y, Hayashi C, Hilbrant M, Hughes DST, Janssen R, Lee SL, Maeso I, Murali SC, Muzny DM, Nunes da Fonseca R, Paese CLB, Qu J, Ronshaugen M, Schomburg C, Schönauer A, Stollewerk A, Torres-Oliva M, Turetzek N, Vanthournout B, Werren JH, Wolff C, Worley KC, Bucher G, Gibbs RA, Coddington J, Oda H, Stanke M, Ayoub NA, Prpic NM, Flot JF, Posnien N, Richards S, McGregor AP. The house spider genome reveals an ancient whole-genome duplication during arachnid evolution. BMC Biol 2017. [PMID: 28756775 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The duplication of genes can occur through various mechanisms and is thought to make a major contribution to the evolutionary diversification of organisms. There is increasing evidence for a large-scale duplication of genes in some chelicerate lineages including two rounds of whole genome duplication (WGD) in horseshoe crabs. To investigate this further, we sequenced and analyzed the genome of the common house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. RESULTS We found pervasive duplication of both coding and non-coding genes in this spider, including two clusters of Hox genes. Analysis of synteny conservation across the P. tepidariorum genome suggests that there has been an ancient WGD in spiders. Comparison with the genomes of other chelicerates, including that of the newly sequenced bark scorpion Centruroides sculpturatus, suggests that this event occurred in the common ancestor of spiders and scorpions, and is probably independent of the WGDs in horseshoe crabs. Furthermore, characterization of the sequence and expression of the Hox paralogs in P. tepidariorum suggests that many have been subject to neo-functionalization and/or sub-functionalization since their duplication. CONCLUSIONS Our results reveal that spiders and scorpions are likely the descendants of a polyploid ancestor that lived more than 450 MYA. Given the extensive morphological diversity and ecological adaptations found among these animals, rivaling those of vertebrates, our study of the ancient WGD event in Arachnopulmonata provides a new comparative platform to explore common and divergent evolutionary outcomes of polyploidization events across eukaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelyn E Schwager
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 198 Riverside Street, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Thomas Clarke
- Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, 204 West Washington Street, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
- J. Craig Venter Institute, 9714 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA
| | - Daniel J Leite
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Torsten Wierschin
- Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Walther-Rathenau-Str. 47, 17487, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Matthias Pechmann
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
- Department of Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Cologne Biocenter, Institute of Zoology, Zuelpicher Straße 47b, 50674, Cologne, Germany
| | - Yasuko Akiyama-Oda
- JT Biohistory Research Hall, 1-1 Murasaki-cho, Takatsuki, Osaka, 569-1125, Japan
- Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan
| | - Lauren Esposito
- Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA
| | - Jesper Bechsgaard
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Trine Bilde
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Alexandra D Buffry
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Hsu Chao
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Huyen Dinh
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - HarshaVardhan Doddapaneni
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Shannon Dugan
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Cornelius Eibner
- Department of Genetics, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Philosophenweg 12, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Peter Funch
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Jessica Garb
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 198 Riverside Street, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA
| | - Luis B Gonzalez
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Vanessa L Gonzalez
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, MRC-163, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA
| | - Sam Griffiths-Jones
- Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, D.1416 Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Yi Han
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Cheryl Hayashi
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA
| | - Maarten Hilbrant
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
- Department of Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Cologne Biocenter, Institute of Zoology, Zuelpicher Straße 47b, 50674, Cologne, Germany
| | - Daniel S T Hughes
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sandra L Lee
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Ignacio Maeso
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Shwetha C Murali
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Donna M Muzny
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Rodrigo Nunes da Fonseca
- Nucleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento SocioAmbiental de Macaé (NUPEM), Campus Macaé, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, 27941-222, Brazil
| | - Christian L B Paese
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Jiaxin Qu
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Matthew Ronshaugen
- Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, D.1416 Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Christoph Schomburg
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Anna Schönauer
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Angelika Stollewerk
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, UK
| | - Montserrat Torres-Oliva
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Natascha Turetzek
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Bram Vanthournout
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
- Evolution and Optics of Nanostructure group (EON), Biology Department, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - John H Werren
- Biology Department, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | - Carsten Wolff
- Humboldt-Universität of Berlin, Institut für Biologie, Philippstr.13, 10115, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kim C Worley
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Gregor Bucher
- Department of Evolutionary Developmental Genetics, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute, GZMB, Georg-August-University, Göttingen Campus, Justus von Liebig Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Richard A Gibbs
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Jonathan Coddington
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, MRC-163, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA.
| | - Hiroki Oda
- JT Biohistory Research Hall, 1-1 Murasaki-cho, Takatsuki, Osaka, 569-1125, Japan.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
| | - Mario Stanke
- Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Walther-Rathenau-Str. 47, 17487, Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Nadia A Ayoub
- Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, 204 West Washington Street, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA.
| | - Nikola-Michael Prpic
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany.
| | - Jean-François Flot
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, C.P. 160/12, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Nico Posnien
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany.
| | - Stephen Richards
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Alistair P McGregor
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
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28
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Schwager EE, Sharma PP, Clarke T, Leite DJ, Wierschin T, Pechmann M, Akiyama-Oda Y, Esposito L, Bechsgaard J, Bilde T, Buffry AD, Chao H, Dinh H, Doddapaneni H, Dugan S, Eibner C, Extavour CG, Funch P, Garb J, Gonzalez LB, Gonzalez VL, Griffiths-Jones S, Han Y, Hayashi C, Hilbrant M, Hughes DST, Janssen R, Lee SL, Maeso I, Murali SC, Muzny DM, Nunes da Fonseca R, Paese CLB, Qu J, Ronshaugen M, Schomburg C, Schönauer A, Stollewerk A, Torres-Oliva M, Turetzek N, Vanthournout B, Werren JH, Wolff C, Worley KC, Bucher G, Gibbs RA, Coddington J, Oda H, Stanke M, Ayoub NA, Prpic NM, Flot JF, Posnien N, Richards S, McGregor AP. The house spider genome reveals an ancient whole-genome duplication during arachnid evolution. BMC Biol 2017; 15:62. [PMID: 28756775 PMCID: PMC5535294 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0399-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 203] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The duplication of genes can occur through various mechanisms and is thought to make a major contribution to the evolutionary diversification of organisms. There is increasing evidence for a large-scale duplication of genes in some chelicerate lineages including two rounds of whole genome duplication (WGD) in horseshoe crabs. To investigate this further, we sequenced and analyzed the genome of the common house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. Results We found pervasive duplication of both coding and non-coding genes in this spider, including two clusters of Hox genes. Analysis of synteny conservation across the P. tepidariorum genome suggests that there has been an ancient WGD in spiders. Comparison with the genomes of other chelicerates, including that of the newly sequenced bark scorpion Centruroides sculpturatus, suggests that this event occurred in the common ancestor of spiders and scorpions, and is probably independent of the WGDs in horseshoe crabs. Furthermore, characterization of the sequence and expression of the Hox paralogs in P. tepidariorum suggests that many have been subject to neo-functionalization and/or sub-functionalization since their duplication. Conclusions Our results reveal that spiders and scorpions are likely the descendants of a polyploid ancestor that lived more than 450 MYA. Given the extensive morphological diversity and ecological adaptations found among these animals, rivaling those of vertebrates, our study of the ancient WGD event in Arachnopulmonata provides a new comparative platform to explore common and divergent evolutionary outcomes of polyploidization events across eukaryotes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0399-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelyn E Schwager
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 198 Riverside Street, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Thomas Clarke
- Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, 204 West Washington Street, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA.,Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.,J. Craig Venter Institute, 9714 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA
| | - Daniel J Leite
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Torsten Wierschin
- Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Walther-Rathenau-Str. 47, 17487, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Matthias Pechmann
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany.,Department of Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Cologne Biocenter, Institute of Zoology, Zuelpicher Straße 47b, 50674, Cologne, Germany
| | - Yasuko Akiyama-Oda
- JT Biohistory Research Hall, 1-1 Murasaki-cho, Takatsuki, Osaka, 569-1125, Japan.,Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan
| | - Lauren Esposito
- Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA
| | - Jesper Bechsgaard
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Trine Bilde
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Alexandra D Buffry
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Hsu Chao
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Huyen Dinh
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - HarshaVardhan Doddapaneni
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Shannon Dugan
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Cornelius Eibner
- Department of Genetics, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Philosophenweg 12, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Peter Funch
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Jessica Garb
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 198 Riverside Street, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA
| | - Luis B Gonzalez
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Vanessa L Gonzalez
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, MRC-163, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA
| | - Sam Griffiths-Jones
- Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, D.1416 Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Yi Han
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Cheryl Hayashi
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.,Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA
| | - Maarten Hilbrant
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.,Department of Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Cologne Biocenter, Institute of Zoology, Zuelpicher Straße 47b, 50674, Cologne, Germany
| | - Daniel S T Hughes
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sandra L Lee
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Ignacio Maeso
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Shwetha C Murali
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Donna M Muzny
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Rodrigo Nunes da Fonseca
- Nucleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento SocioAmbiental de Macaé (NUPEM), Campus Macaé, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, 27941-222, Brazil
| | - Christian L B Paese
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Jiaxin Qu
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Matthew Ronshaugen
- Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, D.1416 Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Christoph Schomburg
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Anna Schönauer
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Angelika Stollewerk
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, UK
| | - Montserrat Torres-Oliva
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Natascha Turetzek
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Bram Vanthournout
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.,Evolution and Optics of Nanostructure group (EON), Biology Department, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - John H Werren
- Biology Department, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | - Carsten Wolff
- Humboldt-Universität of Berlin, Institut für Biologie, Philippstr.13, 10115, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kim C Worley
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Gregor Bucher
- Department of Evolutionary Developmental Genetics, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute, GZMB, Georg-August-University, Göttingen Campus, Justus von Liebig Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Richard A Gibbs
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Jonathan Coddington
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, MRC-163, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA.
| | - Hiroki Oda
- JT Biohistory Research Hall, 1-1 Murasaki-cho, Takatsuki, Osaka, 569-1125, Japan. .,Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
| | - Mario Stanke
- Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Walther-Rathenau-Str. 47, 17487, Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Nadia A Ayoub
- Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, 204 West Washington Street, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA.
| | - Nikola-Michael Prpic
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany.
| | - Jean-François Flot
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, C.P. 160/12, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Nico Posnien
- Department for Developmental Biology, University Goettingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut for Zoology and Anthropology, GZMB Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany.
| | - Stephen Richards
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Alistair P McGregor
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
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Setton EVW, March LE, Nolan ED, Jones TE, Cho H, Wheeler WC, Extavour CG, Sharma PP. Expression and function of spineless orthologs correlate with distal deutocerebral appendage morphology across Arthropoda. Dev Biol 2017; 430:224-236. [PMID: 28764892 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2016] [Revised: 07/03/2017] [Accepted: 07/24/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The deutocerebral (second) head segment is putatively homologous across Arthropoda, in spite of remarkable disparity of form and function of deutocerebral appendages. In Mandibulata this segment bears a pair of sensory antennae, whereas in Chelicerata the same segment bears a pair of feeding appendages called chelicerae. Part of the evidence for the homology of deutocerebral appendages is the conserved function of homothorax (hth), which has been shown to specify antennal or cheliceral fate in the absence of Hox signaling, in both mandibulate and chelicerate exemplars. However, the genetic basis for the morphological disparity of antenna and chelicera is not understood. To test whether downstream targets of hth have diverged in a lineage-specific manner, we examined the evolution of the function and expression of spineless (ss), which in two holometabolous insects is known to act as a hth target and distal antennal determinant. Toward expanding phylogenetic representation of gene expression data, here we show that strong expression of ss is observed in developing antennae of a hemimetabolous insect, a centipede, and an amphipod crustacean. By contrast, ss orthologs are not expressed throughout the cheliceral limb buds of spiders or harvestmen during developmental stages when appendage fate is specified. RNA interference-mediated knockdown of ss in Oncopeltus fasciatus, which bears a simple plesiomorphic antenna, resulted in homeotic distal antenna-to-leg transformation, comparable to data from holometabolous insect counterparts. Knockdown of hth in Oncopeltus fasciatus abrogated ss expression, suggesting conservation of upstream regulation. These data suggest that ss may be a flagellar (distal antennal) determinant more broadly, and that this function was acquired at the base of Mandibulata.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily V W Setton
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Logan E March
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Erik D Nolan
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Tamsin E Jones
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Holly Cho
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Ward C Wheeler
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, USA
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
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30
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Fritsch M, Richter S. Unexpected UBX expression in the maxilliped of the mystacocarid crustacean Derocheilocharis remanei-evidence for a different way of making a maxilliped? Dev Genes Evol 2017; 227:289-296. [PMID: 28721464 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-017-0586-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2016] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In terms of morphology, crustacean maxillipeds are hybrid appendages. They arise in anterior thoracic segments and display characteristics of both locomotory (thoracic) and feeding (gnathal) appendages. Maxillipeds are functionally integrated with the anterior gnathal appendages. Hox gene expression patterns and immunolabeling with the FP6.87 antibody, which detects conserved epitopes of UBX and ABD-A proteins, reveal that maxillipeds are consistently associated with a shift in the expression of the homeotic gene Ubx. Ubx transcription products or proteins only appear in thoracic segments with a typical locomotory thoracopod and are consistently absent in the maxilliped. This pattern is found in various crustaceans: the copepod Mesocyclops, the mysid Mysidium, the decapods Homarus and Periclimenes, the isopod Porcellio, and the amphipod Parhyale. In Parhyale, which possesses maxillipeds on the first thoracic segment, gene manipulation experiments have shown that a leg-like thoracic appendage can be recovered by mis-expressing Ubx in that segment and walking legs can be transformed into maxillipeds by Ubx-knockdown. This survey focuses on the expression of UBX/ABD-A proteins, studied using the FP6.87 antibody, in the larval stages of the mystacocarid crustacean Derocheilocaris remanei. Mystacocarids inhabit the intertidal meiofauna zone of sandy beaches and possess one pair of maxillipeds on the first thoracic segment. Strong UBX/ABD-A expression in the developing maxilliped makes Derocheilocaris unique among crustaceans. Our data might also show that the transformation from locomotory thoracopod to maxilliped cannot be accounted for by the mere presence or absence of UBX, because in mystacocarids, UBX is present in both kinds of limbs. The role of the other Hox gene known to be involved in this transformation, Sex combs reduced (Scr), is unclear. The results presented here may document a new example of a shift in Hox gene function in arthropods. The difference in UBX/ABD-A expression between D. remanei and the copepod maxillipeds is of particular interest because correspondences between the feeding apparatus-including the maxilliped-in mystacocarids and copepods have been suggested as being of phylogenetic significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Fritsch
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Stefan Richter
- Universität Rostock, Allgemeine und Spezielle Zoologie, Institut für Biowissenschaften, Universitätsplatz 2, 18055, Rostock, Germany
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31
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Dunlop JA, Lamsdell JC. Segmentation and tagmosis in Chelicerata. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT 2017; 46:395-418. [PMID: 27240897 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2016.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2016] [Revised: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Patterns of segmentation and tagmosis are reviewed for Chelicerata. Depending on the outgroup, chelicerate origins are either among taxa with an anterior tagma of six somites, or taxa in which the appendages of somite I became increasingly raptorial. All Chelicerata have appendage I as a chelate or clasp-knife chelicera. The basic trend has obviously been to consolidate food-gathering and walking limbs as a prosoma and respiratory appendages on the opisthosoma. However, the boundary of the prosoma is debatable in that some taxa have functionally incorporated somite VII and/or its appendages into the prosoma. Euchelicerata can be defined on having plate-like opisthosomal appendages, further modified within Arachnida. Total somite counts for Chelicerata range from a maximum of nineteen in groups like Scorpiones and the extinct Eurypterida down to seven in modern Pycnogonida. Mites may also show reduced somite counts, but reconstructing segmentation in these animals remains challenging. Several innovations relating to tagmosis or the appendages borne on particular somites are summarised here as putative apomorphies of individual higher taxa. We also present our observations within the concept of pseudotagma, whereby the true tagmata - the prosoma and opisthosoma - can be defined on a fundamental change in the limb series while pseudotagmata, such as the cephalosoma/proterosoma, are expressed as divisions in sclerites covering the body without an accompanying change in the appendages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason A Dunlop
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany.
| | - James C Lamsdell
- American Museum of Natural History, Division of Paleontology, Central Park West at 79th St, New York, NY 10024, USA.
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Sharma PP, Oberski JT, Santiago MA, Kriebel R, Lipps SM, Buenavente PAC, Diesmos AC, Janda M, Boyer SL, Clouse RM, Wheeler WC. There is no evidence that Podoctidae carry eggs of their own species: Reply to Machado and Wolff (2017). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2017; 129:349-353. [PMID: 28433248 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In our recent publication (Sharma et al., 2017), we tested the hypothesis that eggs attached to the legs of male Podoctidae (Opiliones, Laniatores) constituted a case of paternal care, using molecular sequence data in tandem with multiple sequence alignments to test the prediction that sequences of the eggs and the adults that carried them would indicate conspecific identity. We discovered that the sequences of the eggs belonged to spiders, and thus rejected the paternal care hypothesis for these species. Machado and Wolff (2017) recently critiqued our work, which they regarded as a non-critical interpretation and over-reliance on molecular sequence data, and defended the traditional argument that the eggs attached to podoctids are in fact harvestman eggs. Here we show that additional molecular sequence data also refute the identity of the eggs as conspecific harvestman eggs, using molecular cloning techniques to rule out contamination. We show that individual gene trees consistently and reliably place the egg and adult sequences in disparate parts of the tree topology. Phylogenetic methods consistently place all egg sequences within the order Araneae (spiders). We submit that evidence for the paternal care hypothesis based on behavioral, morphological, and natural history approaches is either absent or insufficient for concluding that the eggs of podoctids are conspecific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
| | - Jill T Oberski
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Marc A Santiago
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ricardo Kriebel
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Savana M Lipps
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Perry A C Buenavente
- Zoology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Padre Burgos Avenue, Ermita 1000, Manila, Philippines
| | - Arvin C Diesmos
- Zoology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Padre Burgos Avenue, Ermita 1000, Manila, Philippines
| | - Milan Janda
- Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica, ENES, UNAM, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro, 8701 Morelia, Mexico; Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Sarah L Boyer
- Biology Department, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Ronald M Clouse
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ward C Wheeler
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, USA
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33
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Leite DJ, McGregor AP. Arthropod evolution and development: recent insights from chelicerates and myriapods. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2016; 39:93-100. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2016.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2016] [Revised: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 06/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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34
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Sharma PP, Santiago MA, González-Santillán E, Monod L, Wheeler WC. Evidence of duplicated Hox genes in the most recent common ancestor of extant scorpions. Evol Dev 2016; 17:347-55. [PMID: 26492826 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Scorpions (order Scorpiones) are unusual among arthropods, both for the extreme heteronomy of their bauplan and for the high gene family turnover exhibited in their genomes. These phenomena appear to be correlated, as two scorpion species have been shown to possess nearly twice the number of Hox genes present in most arthropods. Segmentally offset anterior expression boundaries of a subset of Hox paralogs have been shown to correspond to transitions in segmental identities in the scorpion posterior tagmata, suggesting that posterior heteronomy in scorpions may have been achieved by neofunctionalization of Hox paralogs. However, both the first scorpion genome sequenced and the developmental genetic data are based on exemplars of Buthidae, one of 19 families of scorpions. It is therefore not known whether Hox paralogy is limited to Buthidae or widespread among scorpions. We surveyed 24 high throughput transcriptomes and the single whole genome available for scorpions, in order to test the prediction that Hox gene duplications are common to the order. We used gene tree parsimony to infer whether the paralogy was consistent with a duplication event in the scorpion common ancestor. Here we show that duplicated Hox genes in non-buthid scorpions occur in six of the ten Hox classes. Gene tree topologies and parsimony-based reconciliation of the gene trees are consistent with a duplication event in the most recent common ancestor of scorpions. These results suggest that a Hox paralogy, and by extension the model of posterior patterning established in a buthid, can be extended to non-Buthidae scorpions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA.,Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Marc A Santiago
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Edmundo González-Santillán
- Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad, Centro de Investigaciones y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, and Laboratorio de Aracnología, Departamento de Biología Comparada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, México D.F., México
| | - Lionel Monod
- Département des Arthropodes et d'Entomologie I, Muséum d'histoire naturelle de la Ville de Genève, Route de Malagnou 1, CH-1208 Genève, Suisse
| | - Ward C Wheeler
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
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35
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Sharma PP, Tarazona OA, Lopez DH, Schwager EE, Cohn MJ, Wheeler WC, Extavour CG. A conserved genetic mechanism specifies deutocerebral appendage identity in insects and arachnids. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:20150698. [PMID: 25948691 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The segmental architecture of the arthropod head is one of the most controversial topics in the evolutionary developmental biology of arthropods. The deutocerebral (second) segment of the head is putatively homologous across Arthropoda, as inferred from the segmental distribution of the tripartite brain and the absence of Hox gene expression of this anterior-most, appendage-bearing segment. While this homology statement implies a putative common mechanism for differentiation of deutocerebral appendages across arthropods, experimental data for deutocerebral appendage fate specification are limited to winged insects. Mandibulates (hexapods, crustaceans and myriapods) bear a characteristic pair of antennae on the deutocerebral segment, whereas chelicerates (e.g. spiders, scorpions, harvestmen) bear the eponymous chelicerae. In such hexapods as the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and the cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus, cephalic appendages are differentiated from the thoracic appendages (legs) by the activity of the appendage patterning gene homothorax (hth). Here we show that embryonic RNA interference against hth in the harvestman Phalangium opilio results in homeonotic chelicera-to-leg transformations, and also in some cases pedipalp-to-leg transformations. In more strongly affected embryos, adjacent appendages undergo fusion and/or truncation, and legs display proximal defects, suggesting conservation of additional functions of hth in patterning the antero-posterior and proximo-distal appendage axes. Expression signal of anterior Hox genes labial, proboscipedia and Deformed is diminished, but not absent, in hth RNAi embryos, consistent with results previously obtained with the insect G. bimaculatus. Our results substantiate a deep homology across arthropods of the mechanism whereby cephalic appendages are differentiated from locomotory appendages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Oscar A Tarazona
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Davys H Lopez
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Evelyn E Schwager
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Martin J Cohn
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Ward C Wheeler
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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The Compact Body Plan of Tardigrades Evolved by the Loss of a Large Body Region. Curr Biol 2016; 26:224-229. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Revised: 11/12/2015] [Accepted: 11/12/2015] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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Chipman AD. An embryological perspective on the early arthropod fossil record. BMC Evol Biol 2015; 15:285. [PMID: 26678148 PMCID: PMC4683962 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-015-0566-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2015] [Accepted: 12/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Our understanding of the early evolution of the arthropod body plan has recently improved significantly through advances in phylogeny and developmental biology and through new interpretations of the fossil record. However, there has been limited effort to synthesize data from these different sources. Bringing an embryological perspective into the fossil record is a useful way to integrate knowledge from different disciplines into a single coherent view of arthropod evolution. RESULTS I have used current knowledge on the development of extant arthropods, together with published descriptions of fossils, to reconstruct the germband stages of a series of key taxa leading from the arthropod lower stem group to crown group taxa. These reconstruction highlight the main evolutionary transitions that have occurred during early arthropod evolution, provide new insights into the types of mechanisms that could have been active and suggest new questions and research directions. CONCLUSIONS The reconstructions suggest several novel homology hypotheses - e.g. the lower stem group head shield and head capsules in the crown group are all hypothesized to derive from the embryonic head lobes. The homology of anterior segments in different groups is resolved consistently. The transition between "lower-stem" and "upper-stem" arthropods is highlighted as a major transition with a concentration of novelties and innovations, suggesting a gap in the fossil record. A close relationship between chelicerates and megacheirans is supported by the embryonic reconstructions, and I suggest that the depth of the mandibulate-chelicerate split should be reexamined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel D Chipman
- The Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram 91904, Jerusalem, Israel. .,The Department of Paleobiology, The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA.
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Di Z, Yu Y, Wu Y, Hao P, He Y, Zhao H, Li Y, Zhao G, Li X, Li W, Cao Z. Genome-wide analysis of homeobox genes from Mesobuthus martensii reveals Hox gene duplication in scorpions. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2015; 61:25-33. [PMID: 25910680 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2015.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2014] [Revised: 04/10/2015] [Accepted: 04/12/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Homeobox genes belong to a large gene group, which encodes the famous DNA-binding homeodomain that plays a key role in development and cellular differentiation during embryogenesis in animals. Here, one hundred forty-nine homeobox genes were identified from the Asian scorpion, Mesobuthus martensii (Chelicerata: Arachnida: Scorpiones: Buthidae) based on our newly assembled genome sequence with approximately 248 × coverage. The identified homeobox genes were categorized into eight classes including 82 families: 67 ANTP class genes, 33 PRD genes, 11 LIM genes, five POU genes, six SINE genes, 14 TALE genes, five CUT genes, two ZF genes and six unclassified genes. Transcriptome data confirmed that more than half of the genes were expressed in adults. The homeobox gene diversity of the eight classes is similar to the previously analyzed Mandibulata arthropods. Interestingly, it is hypothesized that the scorpion M. martensii may have two Hox clusters. The first complete genome-wide analysis of homeobox genes in Chelicerata not only reveals the repertoire of scorpion, arachnid and chelicerate homeobox genes, but also shows some insights into the evolution of arthropod homeobox genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyong Di
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yao Yu
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Yingliang Wu
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Pei Hao
- Key Lab of Systems Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Yawen He
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Huabin Zhao
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Yixue Li
- Key Lab of Systems Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Guoping Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Xuan Li
- Key Lab of Systems Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
| | - Wenxin Li
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
| | - Zhijian Cao
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
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Sharma PP, Schwager EE, Extavour CG, Wheeler WC. Hox gene duplications correlate with posterior heteronomy in scorpions. Proc Biol Sci 2015; 281:rspb.2014.0661. [PMID: 25122224 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolutionary success of the largest animal phylum, Arthropoda, has been attributed to tagmatization, the coordinated evolution of adjacent metameres to form morphologically and functionally distinct segmental regions called tagmata. Specification of regional identity is regulated by the Hox genes, of which 10 are inferred to be present in the ancestor of arthropods. With six different posterior segmental identities divided into two tagmata, the bauplan of scorpions is the most heteronomous within Chelicerata. Expression domains of the anterior eight Hox genes are conserved in previously surveyed chelicerates, but it is unknown how Hox genes regionalize the three tagmata of scorpions. Here, we show that the scorpion Centruroides sculpturatus has two paralogues of all Hox genes except Hox3, suggesting cluster and/or whole genome duplication in this arachnid order. Embryonic anterior expression domain boundaries of each of the last four pairs of Hox genes (two paralogues each of Antp, Ubx, abd-A and Abd-B) are unique and distinguish segmental groups, such as pectines, book lungs and the characteristic tail, while maintaining spatial collinearity. These distinct expression domains suggest neofunctionalization of Hox gene paralogues subsequent to duplication. Our data reconcile previous understanding of Hox gene function across arthropods with the extreme heteronomy of scorpions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Evelyn E Schwager
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Ward C Wheeler
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
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Abstract
Opiliones are one of the largest arachnid orders, with more than 6,500 species in 50 families. Many of these families have been erected or reorganized in the last few years since the publication of The Biology of Opiliones. Recent years have also seen an explosion in phylogenetic work on Opiliones, as well as in studies using Opiliones as test cases to address biogeographic and evolutionary questions more broadly. Accelerated activity in the study of Opiliones evolution has been facilitated by the discovery of several key fossils, including the oldest known Opiliones fossil, which represents a new, extinct suborder. Study of the group's biology has also benefited from rapid accrual of genomic resources, particularly with respect to transcriptomes and functional genetic tools. The rapid emergence and utility of Phalangium opilio as a model for evolutionary developmental biology of arthropods serve as demonstrative evidence of a new area of study in Opiliones biology, made possible through transcriptomic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gonzalo Giribet
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138;
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Smith FW, Jockusch EL. The metameric pattern of Hypsibius dujardini(Eutardigrada) and its relationship to that of other panarthropods. Front Zool 2014. [DOI: 10.1186/s12983-014-0066-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
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42
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Sharma PP, Wheeler WC. Cross-bracing uncalibrated nodes in molecular dating improves congruence of fossil and molecular age estimates. Front Zool 2014. [DOI: 10.1186/s12983-014-0057-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
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Sharma PP, Kaluziak ST, Pérez-Porro AR, González VL, Hormiga G, Wheeler WC, Giribet G. Phylogenomic Interrogation of Arachnida Reveals Systemic Conflicts in Phylogenetic Signal. Mol Biol Evol 2014; 31:2963-84. [DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msu235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 215] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Garwood RJ, Sharma PP, Dunlop JA, Giribet G. A Paleozoic stem group to mite harvestmen revealed through integration of phylogenetics and development. Curr Biol 2014; 24:1017-23. [PMID: 24726154 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2013] [Revised: 01/29/2014] [Accepted: 03/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Successfully placing fossils in phylogenies is integral to understanding the tree of life. Crown-group Paleozoic members of the arachnid order Opiliones are indicative of ancient origins and one of the earliest arthropod terrestrialization events [1, 2]. Opiliones epitomize morphological stasis, and all known fossils have been placed within the four extant suborders [3-5]. Here we report a Carboniferous harvestman species, Hastocularis argusgen. nov., sp. nov., reconstructed with microtomography (microCT). Phylogenetic analysis recovers this species, and the Devonian Eophalangium sheari, as members of an extinct harvestman clade. We establish the suborder Tetrophthalmi subordo nov., which bore four eyes, to accommodate H. argus and E. sheari, the latter previously considered to be a phalangid [6-9]. Furthermore, embryonic gene expression in the extant species Phalangium opilio demonstrates vestiges of lateral eye tubercles. These lateral eyes are lost in all crown-group Phalangida, but are observed in both our fossil and outgroup chelicerate orders. These data independently corroborate the diagnosis of two eye pairs in the fossil and demonstrate retention of eyes of separate evolutionary origins in modern harvestmen [10-12]. The discovery of Tetrophthalmi alters molecular divergence time estimates, supporting Carboniferous rather than Devonian diversification for extant suborders and directly impacting inferences of terrestrialization history and biogeography. Multidisciplinary approaches integrating fossil and neontological data increase confidence in phylogenies and elucidate evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell J Garwood
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and The Manchester X-Ray Imaging Facility, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
| | - Prashant P Sharma
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79(th) Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Jason A Dunlop
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gonzalo Giribet
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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Hogvall M, Schönauer A, Budd GE, McGregor AP, Posnien N, Janssen R. Analysis of the Wnt gene repertoire in an onychophoran provides new insights into the evolution of segmentation. EvoDevo 2014; 5:14. [PMID: 24708787 PMCID: PMC4021614 DOI: 10.1186/2041-9139-5-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2014] [Accepted: 03/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Onychophora are a probable sister group to Arthropoda, one of the most intensively studied animal phyla from a developmental perspective. Pioneering work on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and subsequent investigation of other arthropods has revealed important roles for Wnt genes during many developmental processes in these animals. RESULTS We screened the embryonic transcriptome of the onychophoran Euperipatoides kanangrensis and found that at least 11 Wnt genes are expressed during embryogenesis. These genes represent 11 of the 13 known subfamilies of Wnt genes. CONCLUSIONS Many onychophoran Wnt genes are expressed in segment polarity gene-like patterns, suggesting a general role for these ligands during segment regionalization, as has been described in arthropods. During early stages of development, Wnt2, Wnt4, and Wnt5 are expressed in broad multiple segment-wide domains that are reminiscent of arthropod gap and Hox gene expression patterns, which suggests an early instructive role for Wnt genes during E. kanangrensis segmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, Uppsala, 75236, Sweden.
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Janssen R, Eriksson BJ, Tait NN, Budd GE. Onychophoran Hox genes and the evolution of arthropod Hox gene expression. Front Zool 2014; 11:22. [PMID: 24594097 PMCID: PMC4015684 DOI: 10.1186/1742-9994-11-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2013] [Accepted: 02/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Onychophora is a relatively small phylum within Ecdysozoa, and is considered to be the sister group to Arthropoda. Compared to the arthropods, that have radiated into countless divergent forms, the onychophoran body plan is overall comparably simple and does not display much in-phylum variation. An important component of arthropod morphological diversity consists of variation of tagmosis, i.e. the grouping of segments into functional units (tagmata), and this in turn is correlated with differences in expression patterns of the Hox genes. How these genes are expressed in the simpler onychophorans, the subject of this paper, would therefore be of interest in understanding their subsequent evolution in the arthropods, especially if an argument can be made for the onychophoran system broadly reflecting the ancestral state in the arthropods. Results The sequences and embryonic expression patterns of the complete set of ten Hox genes of an onychophoran (Euperipatoides kanangrensis) are described for the first time. We find that they are all expressed in characteristic patterns that suggest a function as classical Hox genes. The onychophoran Hox genes obey spatial colinearity, and with the exception of Ultrabithorax (Ubx), they all have different and distinct anterior expression borders. Notably, Ubx transcripts form a posterior to anterior gradient in the onychophoran trunk. Expression of all onychophoran Hox genes extends continuously from their anterior border to the rear end of the embryo. Conclusions The spatial expression pattern of the onychophoran Hox genes may contribute to a combinatorial Hox code that is involved in giving each segment its identity. This patterning of segments in the uniform trunk, however, apparently predates the evolution of distinct segmental differences in external morphology seen in arthropods. The gradient-like expression of Ubx may give posterior segments their specific identity, even though they otherwise express the same set of Hox genes. We suggest that the confined domains of Hox gene expression seen in arthropods evolved from an ancestral onychophoran-like Hox gene pattern. Reconstruction of the ancestral arthropod Hox pattern and comparison with the patterns in the different arthropod classes reveals phylogenetic support for Mandibulata and Tetraconata, but not Myriochelata and Atelocerata.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Janssen
- Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden.
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47
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Smith FW, Angelini DR, Jockusch EL. A functional genetic analysis in flour beetles (Tenebrionidae) reveals an antennal identity specification mechanism active during metamorphosis in Holometabola. Mech Dev 2014; 132:13-27. [PMID: 24534744 DOI: 10.1016/j.mod.2014.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2013] [Revised: 01/13/2014] [Accepted: 02/06/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The antenna was the first arthropod ventral appendage to evolve non-leg identity. Models of antennal evolution have been based on comparisons of antennal and leg identity specification mechanisms in Drosophila melanogaster, a species in which appendages develop from highly derived imaginal discs during the larval period. We test for conservation of the Drosophila antennal identity specification mechanism at metamorphosis in Tribolium castaneum and three other flour beetle species (Tribolium confusum, Tribolium brevicornis and Latheticus oryzae) in the family Tenebrionidae. In Drosophila, loss of function of four transcription factors-homothorax, extradenticle, Distal-less, and spineless-causes large-scale transformations of the antenna to leg identity. Distal-less and spineless function similarly during metamorphosis in T. castaneum. RNA interference (RNAi) targeting homothorax (hth) or extradenticle (exd) caused transformation of the proximal antenna to distal leg identity in flour beetles, but did not affect the identity of the distal antenna. This differs from the functional domain of these genes in early instar Drosophila, where they are required for identity specification throughout the antenna, but matches their functional domain in late instar Drosophila. The similarities between antennal identity specification at metamorphosis in flour beetles and in late larval Drosophila likely reflect the conservation of an ancestral metamorphic developmental mechanism. There were two notable differences in hth/exd loss of function phenotypes between flies and beetles. Flour beetles retained all of their primary segments in both the antenna and legs, whereas flies undergo reduction and fusion of primary segments. This difference in ground state appendage morphology casts doubt on interpretations of developmental ground states as evolutionary atavisms. Additionally, adult Tribolium eyes were transformed to elytron-like structures; we provide a developmental hypothesis for this evolutionarily surprising transformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank W Smith
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3043, Storrs, CT 06269-3043, USA.
| | - David R Angelini
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3043, Storrs, CT 06269-3043, USA; Department of Biology, Colby College, 5734 Mayflower Hill, Waterville, ME 04901, USA
| | - Elizabeth L Jockusch
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3043, Storrs, CT 06269-3043, USA
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Sharma PP, Gupta T, Schwager EE, Wheeler WC, Extavour CG. Subdivision of arthropod cap-n-collar expression domains is restricted to Mandibulata. EvoDevo 2014; 5:3. [PMID: 24405788 PMCID: PMC3897911 DOI: 10.1186/2041-9139-5-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2013] [Accepted: 11/14/2013] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The monophyly of Mandibulata - the division of arthropods uniting pancrustaceans and myriapods - is consistent with several morphological characters, such as the presence of sensory appendages called antennae and the eponymous biting appendage, the mandible. Functional studies have demonstrated that the patterning of the mandible requires the activity of the Hox gene Deformed and the transcription factor cap-n-collar (cnc) in at least two holometabolous insects: the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the beetle Tribolium castaneum. Expression patterns of cnc from two non-holometabolous insects and a millipede have suggested conservation of the labral and mandibular domains within Mandibulata. However, the activity of cnc is unknown in crustaceans and chelicerates, precluding understanding of a complete scenario for the evolution of patterning of this appendage within arthropods. To redress these lacunae, here we investigate the gene expression of the ortholog of cnc in Parhyale hawaiensis, a malacostracan crustacean, and two chelicerates: the harvestman Phalangium opilio, and the scorpion Centruroides sculpturatus. RESULTS In the crustacean P. hawaiensis, the segmental expression of Ph-cnc is the same as that reported previously in hexapods and myriapods, with two distinct head domains in the labrum and the mandibular segment. In contrast, Po-cnc and Cs-cnc expression is not enriched in the labrum of either chelicerate, but instead is expressed at comparable levels in all appendages. In further contrast to mandibulate orthologs, the expression domain of Po-cnc posterior to the labrum is not confined within the expression domain of Po-Dfd. CONCLUSIONS Expression data from two chelicerate outgroup taxa suggest that the signature two-domain head expression pattern of cnc evolved at the base of Mandibulata. The observation of the archetypal labral and mandibular segment domains in a crustacean exemplar supports the synapomorphic nature of mandibulate cnc expression. The broader expression of Po-cnc with respect to Po-Dfd in chelicerates further suggests that the regulation of cnc by Dfd was also acquired at the base of Mandibulata. To test this hypothesis, future studies examining panarthropod cnc evolution should investigate expression of the cnc ortholog in arthropod outgroups, such as Onychophora and Tardigrada.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA.
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Santos VT, Ribeiro L, Fraga A, de Barros CM, Campos E, Moraes J, Fontenele MR, Araújo HM, Feitosa NM, Logullo C, da Fonseca RN. The embryogenesis of the TickRhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus: The establishment of a new chelicerate model system. Genesis 2013; 51:803-18. [DOI: 10.1002/dvg.22717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2013] [Revised: 09/03/2013] [Accepted: 09/26/2013] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vitória Tobias Santos
- Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda (LIBHM), 1 - Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé NUPEM; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Campus Macaé); Brazil
| | - Lupis Ribeiro
- Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda (LIBHM), 1 - Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé NUPEM; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Campus Macaé); Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produtos Bioativos e Biociências (PPGPRODBIO); UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
| | - Amanda Fraga
- Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda (LIBHM), 1 - Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé NUPEM; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Campus Macaé); Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produtos Bioativos e Biociências (PPGPRODBIO); UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
| | - Cíntia Monteiro de Barros
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produtos Bioativos e Biociências (PPGPRODBIO); UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
- Laboratório Integrado de Morfologia; Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio-Ambiental de Macaé (NUPEM), UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
| | - Eldo Campos
- Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda (LIBHM), 1 - Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé NUPEM; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Campus Macaé); Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produtos Bioativos e Biociências (PPGPRODBIO); UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jorge Moraes
- Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda (LIBHM), 1 - Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé NUPEM; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Campus Macaé); Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produtos Bioativos e Biociências (PPGPRODBIO); UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marcio Ribeiro Fontenele
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular do Desenvolvimento; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas; UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
| | - Helena Marcolla Araújo
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular do Desenvolvimento; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas; UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
| | - Natalia Martins Feitosa
- Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda (LIBHM), 1 - Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé NUPEM; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Campus Macaé); Brazil
| | - Carlos Logullo
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produtos Bioativos e Biociências (PPGPRODBIO); UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
- Laboratório de Química e Função de Proteínas e Peptídeos; Universidade Estadual Norte Fluminense; Campos dos Goytacazes RJ, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Nunes da Fonseca
- Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda (LIBHM), 1 - Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé NUPEM; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Campus Macaé); Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produtos Bioativos e Biociências (PPGPRODBIO); UFRJ Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Posterior Hox gene reduction in an arthropod: Ultrabithorax and Abdominal-B are expressed in a single segment in the mite Archegozetes longisetosus. EvoDevo 2013; 4:23. [PMID: 23991696 PMCID: PMC3766265 DOI: 10.1186/2041-9139-4-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2013] [Accepted: 07/15/2013] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Hox genes encode transcription factors that have an ancestral role in all bilaterian animals in specifying regions along the antero-posterior axis. In arthropods (insects, crustaceans, myriapods and chelicerates), Hox genes function to specify segmental identity, and changes in Hox gene expression domains in different segments have been causal to the evolution of novel arthropod morphologies. Despite this, the roles of Hox genes in arthropods that have secondarily lost or reduced their segmental composition have been relatively unexplored. Recent data suggest that acariform mites have a reduced segmental component of their posterior body tagma, the opisthosoma, in that only two segments are patterned during embryogenesis. This is in contrast to the observation that in many extinct and extant chelicerates (that is, horseshoe crabs, scorpions, spiders and harvestmen) the opisthosoma is comprised of ten or more segments. To explore the role of Hox genes in this reduced body region, we followed the expression of the posterior-patterning Hox genes Ultrabithorax (Ubx) and Abdominal-B (Abd-B), as well as the segment polarity genes patched (ptc) and engrailed (en), in the oribatid mite Archegozetes longisetosus. Results We find that the expression patterns of ptc are in agreement with previous reports of a reduced mite opisthosoma. In comparison to the ptc and en expression patterns, we find that Ubx and Abd-B are expressed in a single segment in A. longisetosus, the second opisthosomal segment. Abd-B is initially expressed more posteriorly than Ubx, that is, into the unsegmented telson; however, this domain clears in subsequent stages where it remains in the second opisthosomal segment. Conclusions Our findings suggest that Ubx and Abd-B are expressed in a single segment in the opisthosoma. This is a novel observation, in that these genes are expressed in several segments in all studied arthropods. These data imply that a reduction in opisthosomal segmentation may be tied to a dramatically reduced Hox gene input in the opisthosoma.
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